L'esprit de la Maison
Quality and Innovation
Chanoine Frères has a rich heritage of three centuries of expertise, built by six generations of adventurous merchants who form a major Champagne dynasty, the Chanoine family, and then by their successors, who are driven by the same vision: A demand for quality and a taste for innovation.
Isabelle Tellier,
Head Wine-Maker
Appointed Head Wine-Maker of the House of Chanoine Freres in 2001, Isabelle Tellier is one of the first women ever to hold that position in a Champagne house. Her entire professional career, which began in 1992, has been made in the Champagne world. Her experience in creating Champagne wines and her expertise are considerable.
As guarantor of the quality and style of all the House’s wines, she is responsible for formulating the Chanoine and Tsarine cuvées and manages all phases: selection of the grapes at harvest, tasting the vins clairs, assembling the crus and the grape varieties, fermentation, ageing, etc.
Isabelle Tellier, a passionate and genuine woman, is the creator of Tsarine Rosé, Tzarina, Tsarine Orium, Chanoine Blanc de Blancs, the Chanoine Frères Réserve Privée — Brut, Rosé, Millésimé, 100% Chardonnay Blanc de Blancs lines — and the new Blanc de Blancs cuvée from Tsarine.
A graduate enologist of the University of Reims Champagne Ardenne, Isabelle is a member of the Association Amicale des Chefs de Cave de Champagne (AACCC).
An inspired creator of new “cuvées”, this noble lady of Champagne has received more than 160 distinctions, each of them a mark of her talent, her uncompromising demand for quality, and her pioneering spirit.
Sharing and passing on
“Sharing is the reason the House of Chanoine Frères exists. Making the pleasures of Champagne known, from generation to generation. Chanoine Frères Champagnes are essentially wines meant to be shared.”
“Sharing our culture and our love of Champagne is natural for a house like ours, with its three centuries of history. Chanoine Frères is proud of that heritage, which draws its strength from the values and the character that have been handed down by its founders and their successors.”
Franck Coste,
President CEO of Champagne Chanoine Frères
“Since 1730, Chanoine Frères has been a great Champagne house, a pioneer and a visionary. Its vocation is to continue to have influence by cultivating its expertise: Formulating quality Champagnes, remaining true to its heritage by showing creativity and audacity.”
“The ambition of the House of Chanoine Freres is to win over an ever-greater public, in France and around the world, with its Chanoine and Tsarine cuvées.”
“The House is part of the LANSON BCC, , an independent, family-owned group and a major player in the Champagne market who inspire and share that vision.”
Our People
At Chanoine Frères, the role each person plays is very important. Our people are artisans of quality. Creating the different Chanoine and Tsarine cuvées requires unwavering attention to all details, at each stage of the winemaking process, from assembly, ageing, and bottling to packaging, labeling and shipping.
Our people are professionals with talent and taste who share a love of a job well done and the pride of making our House’s champagnes in its cellars on the Allée du Vignoble in Reims. They perpetuate the heritage of know-how and tradition that the House of Chanoine Frères has cultivated and enriched since its founding in 1730.
Aurélien
Aurélien plays a pivotal role at the House. Like an orchestra's conductor, he plans and coordinates all champagne production operations and knows all their secrets and subtleties. With a true sense of the importance of his task and impressively high standards, he is totally focused.
“I love everything that goes into making the House's cuvées — the contents and the container, the grape varieties and the wine, the cellars and the machines, the people and the work they do. I don't leave anything to chance. Champagne needs reflection, work, and time. Especially at Chanoine Frères, which is a one-of-a-kind house!”
Mélanie
Attentive and precise, Mélanie supervises casing, the last stage of packaging the House’s champagnes. Protected by heavy-duty corrugated cartons, the bottles will travel the world.
“Every detail is important. After the final checks of the packaging and labels, I make sure the bottles are securely packed and the cartons are well sealed. The cases are decorated in the colors of each of the House’s cuvées, and it’s often the first thing our customers see.”
Ludovic
Highly involved in his work and highly reactive, Ludovic is “very Chanoine” — he's been defending the colors of the House for over twenty years. In the warehouses, he moves thousands of bottles on the fork of his forklift and covers a good hundred kilometers every day.
“For things to run smooth for me, I always need to be in the right place at the right time. And work with deftness and precision. The House's champagnes deserve tender, loving care from a good pair of hands!”
Julio
In the cellars and on the production lines, Julio is on his toes. Concentrated, always active, always moving, he carries the bins of bottles and sets them up for riddling and then disgorgement.
“Setting up the bottles for disgorgement is a manual operation. I take them two by two with a firm, precise gesture. The bottles are under pressure, and so am I! I like keeping up with the fast pace.”
Régis
Régis has reigned over the cellars since they were built, working in the cool, shadowy spaces where millions of bottles of champagne age for years. Rigorous, respected, appreciated, and invaluable to the House, he supervises the flows and movements of the bottles and knows where each cuvée is stored.
“I like everything to be stored neatly — every stack straight, every bottle crate aligned. In short, for the cellars to be perfectly orderly. It makes it easier to find everything. But more than that, it's just plain beautiful!”
Johan
Fast on his feet and always available, Johan is in charge of maintaining the machines on the production lines. He's attentive and meticulous as he goes about his task of starting up the House's corking, wiring, and labeling machines.
“I like adjusting and maintaining machines. The labeler, for example, has to be adjusted really precisely, and the adjustment changes with the shape and size of the bottle. It labels thousands of bottles of champagne per hour.”
Dominique
Highly experienced – he's been with the House since it took up residence on the Allée du Vignoble –, Dominique is in charge of the cellars. Also a freediving enthusiast, this top champagne professional and expert taster works with Isabelle Tellier to oversee the wines' development in the cellars.
“I care for the champagne from the time it enters the cellar and up to the riddling stage. That's the period of the second fermentation in the bottle, when the champagne develops its full flavors.”
Cyril
Nothing escapes Cyril's watchful eye as he supervises the production lines. His job is to make sure that the processes move smoothly, from the disgorgement and corking stages through packaging, labeling and packing of the House's cuvées. Deftly and with a sense of humor…
“I walk the production line all day long. I organize. I lend a hand when it's needed. My job is to make sure what's scheduled is produced, within the deadline and with quality.”
Cédric
The House's cellars are his kingdom. Cédric — reliable and meticulous, experienced and ever curious — has known their every recess for twenty years and is in charge of the riddling (remuage) operations — the crucial stage that follows ageing and precedes disgorgement.
“I love what I do. In the cellars you have to be calm yet active. Your aim has to be sure and each move has to be right, especially when you're handling cages of champagne bottles at up to 6 m high. Control over the process of riddling is also very important; it has to be precise down to a degree.”
Damien
Reliable and meticulous, Damien handles maintenance of the machines — dosing and corking machines, wiring machines, labelers — and their adjustment for each production run depending on the formats of the champagne bottles.
“Right now I’m adjusting the dosing machine. The machine adds the dosage liqueur that finishes the wine and determines the type of champagne — extra-brut, brut, or demi-sec. I like doing precise work. Accurate to within a half-gram!”
Cédric
Cédric is enthusiastic, demanding, and determined — a person of quality who is also the Quality person at Chanoine Frères. He's in charge of Quality in all its dimensions: QHSE, process, supplies, continuous improvement.
“I like what's good, good-looking, and well done. I can't stand imperfection. Quality is a process of making constant progress. My job is to drive the teams to make those constant efforts. Satisfying all our customers is our motivation and our goal.”
Christophe
Watchful and concentrated, Christophe supplies the production lines with champagne bottles that will complete their ageing in the House's cellars. Always on the front lines, he's a solid team member and keeps a light-hearted attitude.
“I'm constantly moving between the cellars and the production lines.
I calculate my trips so I can anticipate and keep the pace! And above all I never make a trip empty.”
Rachid
Rachid has been with the House for over twenty years, and is in charge of all the production lines and the packaging and labeling shops for the cuvées. This top champagne professional carries out his crucial duties with simplicity, diplomacy, and very high standards..
“My obsession is quality, at all levels — our products, the work we do, and our work environment. It’s a virtuous circle in which everything is connected.”
Bruno
Bruno has a passion for fine bottles; he supervises the packaging and labeling of the prestige cuvées. All the work is done by hand, and Bruno is the master craftsman who sets the bar for quality and excellence. He has a talent for making clear exactly how each gesture is performed.
“The bottle and the nectar in it go together, and when you’re working by hand, each element must be exactly in its place. The label and neck band are positioned to within a half-millimeter. The four folds in the capsule are precise, oriented correctly, and never crushed!”
Bruno
Bruno is a little like a ballet master. He choreographs the incessant movements of inventory and shipments In the warehouses. Always calm and methodical, he orchestrates the flow of several tens of thousands of bottles of champagne each day... like a true maestro.
“Knowing where every case of each champagne is at any instant in time. Organizing movements and positions, in space and in time, with agility.
I like the challenges.”
Benjamin
Benjamin loves anything mechanical, and motorcycles in particular.
Now he’s at the controls of a new high-performance machine — a new-generation labeler that can label champagne bottles at world-class speed.
“My challenge with the digital labeling machine is to fine-tune it to increase yield while making sure that quality is regular and up to the highest standards. At Chanoine, we use leading-edge technology to produce beautiful bottles.”
Richard
With twenty years’ experience with the House, Richard is conscientiousness personified.
He supplies the production lines with the corks, labels, neck bands and capsules that stopper and dress the House’s champagnes. The meticulous care he takes ensures that each bottle is properly packaged and labeled.
“I like to see work done right.
Every evening I get everything ready for the next day’s production. In the morning I check to make sure that each line has the right supplies. And at the end of the day I put everything away and re-inventory.”
Anthony
Reliable and chock-full of energy and drive, Anthony is in charge of disgorging the bottles of champagne that have come to the end of the ageing process in the House’s cellars. Disgorgement is a delicate operation specific to champagne which consists in uncapping the bottles and removing the fermentation deposits.
“Just after disgorgement comes dosage, and then corking. The line moves very fast. I’m right there, watching like a hawk and jumping in if necessary, a little like a mechanic during a Formula One race.”
Denis
Like a rigorous orchestra leader who lets not a single note get by, Denis directs operations and leads the House’s production team with empathy and method. An athlete and accomplished swimmer, Denis sees his task as continuing to make the House advance along the track of performance and excellence.
“Sharing knowledge and quality are in Chanoine Frères’ roots. It’s a family story in which we’re growing together, with mutual trust and without compromise.
The part each person plays is important. Attention to every detail and constant vigilance are essential. Our champagnes are magnificent products, and they inspire us to aim at perfection.”
Isabelle
As Chef de Cave, Isabelle oversees the creation of the cuvées with a masterful hand; she is one of the first women in the champagne world ever to hold the position. As unassuming as she is talented, Isabelle is the creator of Tsarine Rosé, Tzarina, Tsarine Orium, and Chanoine Frères Réserve Privée.
Vivacious and with a sense of humor as sparkling as the wines she creates, Isabelle is an epicurean who loves to cook and invent new pairings of food and champagne
“My job is essentially a creative one. For Tsarine and Chanoine, I strive to create champagnes that are unique, like perfumes. Surprising people and turning their heads is what our House is all about. And there are still so many things to invent! Champagne’s very nature is evolving as consumers’ tastes evolve.”
Carlos
Cheerful and conscientious, Carlos is responsible for two tasks: supplying the champagne bottle packaging and labeling lines and loading pallets of cases in the House’s warehouse.
He operates in high gear with an energy that’s contagious.
“Everyday, I prepare the supplies for the lines in accordance with the fabrication order for the next day.
I check everything – corks, labels, capsules, wire cages… and then I double-check. I give it all I’ve got. There’s no room for errors.”
Carine
Carine, bubbly and always pert, organizes the shipments and guides the drivers who come to pick up the cases of champagne. Vivacious and straightforward, she’s the House’s smiling face and at the same time formidably efficient!
“I take care of shipments. At 8 a.m. the trucks are there, ready to load and get back on the road. I check the drivers in and orient them. I draw up the papers, and off they go again.
I’m in my element. I love champagne and I love people!”
Olivier
Olivier has a love for machinery, and as head of the maintenance team he holds sway over some fifty machines — disgorging machines, dosing and corking machines, wiring and labeling machines. Timing must be perfect and precision and reliability uncompromising on a line that operates in a continuous flow.
“I’m there at 7 a.m. before anybody else to check the setup of the production lines for the different bottle formats. What I love is disassembling and reassembling the machines. Like a watchmaker, I work by ear — if a machine is out of adjustment, I can hear it.”
Lucie
Lucie is organized and rigorous. Among the critical missions entrusted to her is the demanding responsibility for making regulatory declarations to the highly punctilious French Customs services. She keeps meticulous books in order to determine the excise taxes to be paid on the wines.
“They call me “Madame Centime” (“Ms Penny”)! I have to keep track of everything that leaves the House, keep up with all the champagne shipments, record each movement. Every month, everything has to be calculated and declared to the nearest centime. Champagne is all about pleasure, bubbles… and taxes!”
Julien
Julien is a local boy who worked in the vineyards for several years. He knows the Champagne wine region like the back of his hand. In the vat-room, one of his tasks is to keep an eagle eye on all the hygiene and cleanliness operations that are so essential to food safety where wine is concerned.
“I take part in blending, filtering the wines and seeing to the cleanliness of the equipment, which must be irreproachable every day. I’m curious and I like working as part of a team.
In the vat-room I’m in my element, because there’s always something to do.”
Pascale
Pascale has worked at the site since its creation in 1996 and saw Chanoine Frères’ above-ground cellars – among the first and the largest in Champagne – being built. She soon saw the birth of one of the House’s great successes, the Tsarine cuvées.
As administrative and financial manager, Pascale is a pillar of the House; she knows everything about it, acts as custodian of its culture, and champions its values.
“In a way I was here at the opening of the House on the Allée du Vignoble, and I’m deeply attached to it. To make good champagne, everything has to be extremely precise – the figures as well as the blends.”
Karen
Vivacious and dynamic, Karen is in charge of planning the packaging and labeling of the bottles. In France and internationally, that accounts for over a thousand different items for which she manages inventories with high standards of reliability.
“I make sure all the needed supplies are available for each order, each country and each customer. Labels, corks, wire cages, coiffes, boxes, cases — everything has to be there on time, in the right quantities and the right languages. An-ti-ci-pa-tion is the secret. And I double-check everything!”
Fabien
Fabien is purposeful and committed to his work. He’s a man who knows the value of things. In the cathedral-like cellars, he moves the champagnes that have finished ageing to the disgorgement lines. In this place of soaring spaces, he dexterously moves bins containing 500 bottles to a height of up to 6 meters.
“My job is to go to the right place at the right time. I keep an even, gentle pace. Because champagne is fragile. I’m responsible for thousands of bottles up on the forks of my lift. And I’m proud of that.”
Pascale
Pascale has worked at the site since its creation in 1996 and saw Chanoine Frères’ above-ground cellars – among the first and the largest in Champagne – being built. She soon saw the birth of one of the House’s great successes, the Tsarine cuvées.
As administrative and financial manager, Pascale is a pillar of the House; she knows everything about it, acts as custodian of its culture, and champions its values.
“In a way I was here at the opening of the House on the Allée du Vignoble, and I’m deeply attached to it. To make good champagne, everything has to be extremely precise – the figures as well as the blends.”
Nicolas
Nicolas is a perfectionist whose task is to put together the blends designed by the Head Wine-Maker in the vat-room. Each of the House’s champagnes is the fruit of a specific blend or assemblage.
“My job is fascinating because each year is different. It’s very precise work. To me the vat-room is like a forest, a beautiful, quiet place with its orderly rows of vats where our wines age. It’s pretty athletic — I cover several kilometers from one end to the other.”
Aude
Aude, a graduate oenologist who studied in Reims and a Champenoise at heart, is a master of all vat-room tasks.
She brings her experience and her rigorousness to all the stages of the process of making the House’s wines — and with a cheerful attitude to boot!
“Quality is not something that can be made up as you go along. Each stage of the winemaking process has to be done right if the result is to meet the House’s stringent standards. Outside of wine, sewing is my passion. When you think about it, it’s quite similar to making champagne — everything is a matter of detail, precision, meticulousness, and patience.”
Didier
With an iron hand in a velvet glove, Didier supervises the stages of disgorgement, corking and wiring-on of the cork in the House’s bottles.
“With me things have to move: The work has to be done precisely, rapidly, and efficiently. After the final operations, I also handle the final inspection. The champagne is finished and ready to leave the House, and it has to be impeccable to be shipped to our customers.”
Jacques
With Chanoine since the installation of the above-ground cellars on the Allée du Vignoble in Reims, Jacques is a mainstay of the House and his sense of humor is highly appreciated. He is an avid beekeeper and has located his hives around the site. They produce a delicious wildflower honey.
“I take care of the prestige cuvées and limited series that have a custom packaging. I make sure that the capsules, neck labels, and labels on our bottles are perfect. Nothing gets past me. I’ll admit it: I’ve become compulsive!”
Édouard
Édouard, an experienced oenologist, is in charge of winemaking, assembling the blends, and bottling the cuvées. Precise and rigorous, he also happens to be an Epicurean who loves to cook and invent ways to marry fine food and Chanoine and Tsarine champagnes.
“In tasting the vins clairs and preparing the blends, I mobilize my memory and my experience of everything I’ve ever tasted. My job is to anticipate how the wines will evolve. All my senses are awake; I’m hyper-concentrated.”
Sylvie
Sylvie’s quick eyes oversee the quality of the packaging and labeling when the bottles are packed before being shipped to the four corners of the world. Those eyes are accurate to the millimeter.
“I’m like a haute-couture seamstress fitting an evening gown. The capsule, the neck band, the label… A bottle of champagne is like a dress — before going out, everything has to be perfect. If the slightest detail is off, I pull the bottle and re-dress it by hand.”
Vincent
Vincent is the methodical and meticulous person in charge of sanitizing the machines used for disgorging, corking, wiring, labeling, etc. The work he does every day is essential for ensuring adherence to hygiene and food safety standards.
“I work in the evening, after the lines have been stopped and taken apart. Everything is quiet. I clean, rub, and scrape. The machines have to be spotless for the next day’s production. I guess you could call me Mr. Clean!”
Kilian
Kilian’s attentive eye makes sure that the production lines are operating smoothly, from the disgorgement stage to labeling. As part of his on-the-job training at Chanoine, he goes from one machine to the other acquiring all the necessary technical skills.
“I was born in Champagne and I chose to work in the champagne business. It’s a family trade. Working here, you’re really part of a team, and I really like the wide range of tasks I’m given.”
Emmanuel
Both fast-moving and careful, Emmanuel prepares the House’s shipments. On his lift truck, he assembles the orders and loads the pallets on the delivery trucks. It’s a job that demands skill and dexterity.
“I like being active all the time, keeping the pace — like in a cross-country race. The whole inventory is in my head; I know where everything is and I check every order. The right cases need to end up on the right trucks!”
Stéphanie
Stéphanie — a woman with ideas, intuitive and curious — is the House’s director of Marketing. One of her key tasks is to develop the custom packaging for the Tsarine and Chanoine cuvées and limited series. With her demanding esthetic sense and sensitivity to shapes and colors, she never fails to find ways of embellishing the House’s bottles and packaging.
“I believe the pleasure of champagne has to be total — in what’s in the bottle and also in the way it looks. My job is to invent packaging that can reveal the spirit of our cuvées and make them look even more beautiful.”
Antoine
Antoine, a Junior Product Manager, is a practitioner of CrossFit, a sport involving highly varied, high-intensity movement. Calm and rigorous, he plays a pivotal role in transmitting information to the House’s sales teams.
“I’ve been interested in the world of champagne since the start of my university studies. At Chanoine Frères, there’s nothing routine about my job. The tasks are varied. Every day is different, and that’s what I like about it.”
