Antoine Bouvet – A young grower in Mareuil-sur-Aÿ making Champagne of precision and depth
Antoine Bouvet grew up at his grandfather’s domaine in Mareuil-sur-Aÿ — walking the vines, watching the harvests, learning the work before he was old enough to do it. He took over the estate in 2013. The insignia on every bottle he makes shows the two of them together, a small boy holding the old man’s hand.
The domaine has its roots in Avenay-Val-d’Or, the village just south of Mareuil, where Antoine’s great-grandmother Gaëtane had her first vines. His grandparents Guy and his wife took it over and settled in Mareuil-sur-Aÿ. Antoine’s parents chose different careers outside of wine — so when Antoine decided to take over the estate, it was a personal choice rather than family obligation.
He works exclusively with oak, farms 5.5 hectares across three villages — Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, Bisseuil, and Avenay-Val-d’Or — and has converted the entire estate to organic and biodynamic practices.
Antoine’s approach in the cellar is similar to his philosophy in the vineyard: precision, patience, and as little intervention as possible. He wants the wines to express where they come from — the three villages, the different soils, the vintage — rather than a house style or a winemaking signature.
Today Antoine works alongside his brother and a full-time team. He has introduced a horse, pigs, and sheep into the vineyard work, plants trees every year for agroforestry, and continues to push his barrel ageing further — some wines resting in oak for four years or more before release.
When the Glouglou podcast asked Antoine what wine says about him, he said this:
“What I love above all, why I chose this, is freedom. A freedom in the way we work, in the way we see things. It’s a way of expressing yourself freely — you can say what you want through the wines, however you want, in all the moments of your life.”
