France · Côte de Beaune

Maison Champy

Maison Champy is a Burgundy wine house founded in 1720 by Edmé Champy as a barrel-maker and wine merchant. Its vineyard holdings are farmed organically and certified HVE, and its wines use indigenous yeast, whole-cluster pressing for whites and barrel fermentation, with named Pinot Noir reds including Bourgogne Pinot Noir Cuvée Edme and Pernand-Vergelesses Clos de Bully.

The producer

Maison Champy began in 1720, when Edmé Champy worked as a barrel-maker and wine merchant. The Burgundy house joins organically farmed, HVE-certified vineyard holdings with traditional Burgundian winemaking: indigenous yeast across the range, whole-cluster pressing for whites and barrel fermentation. The red bottles mark two different label positions. Bourgogne Pinot Noir Cuvée Edme is a regional Bourgogne red, while Pernand-Vergelesses Clos de Bully is 100% Pinot Noir from a named locality on limestone marl.

Cuvée Edme opens with small black fruit, vanilla and a finely woody background, then turns fresh, supple and round, with a lively shape, coated tannins and a tart finish. Clos de Bully shows a dark garnet colour, small red and black fruits, and mineral and smoky notes against its marl-limestone setting; on the palate it is fresh and fruity, with fine tannins and a finish of fruit and mineral freshness. Beyond these two reds, the wider portfolio runs from regional Bourgogne through village and Premier Cru wines to Grand Cru Corton-Charlemagne, moving from broad regional wording to more specific places and classification levels.

Known for

Historic Burgundian house linking organic vineyard work and traditional Burgundian winemaking, including indigenous yeast, whole-cluster pressing for whites and barrel fermentation, with nineteenth-century cellar technology and named Pinot Noir reds at the regional Bourgogne level and in the Clos de Bully locality.

Notable facts

The story

1891, a technical laboratory under Louis Pasteur's supervision

In 1891, a technical laboratory under Louis Pasteur's supervision was established at Maison Champy's premises. The event came four years after the winery building had been designed in Eiffel-style architecture and equipped with a Houdard pasteurizing machine. The laboratory joined the winery and its named machine on the same premises. The business itself reached back to 1720, when Edmé Champy founded it as a barrel-maker and wine merchant. By 1891, Maison Champy's premises held the Eiffel-style winery building, the Houdard pasteurizing machine and the technical laboratory under Louis Pasteur's supervision.

From the atlas

Maison Champy

At A Glance

Founded in 1720 by Edmé Champy as a barrel-maker and wine merchant, Maison Champy is a Burgundy wine house whose named red wines are Pinot Noir. Bourgogne Pinot Noir Cuvée Edme carries the regional Bourgogne level; Pernand-Vergelesses Clos de Bully is 100% Pinot Noir from a marl-limestone locality. The vineyard holdings are farmed organically and certified HVE, while indigenous yeast and barrel fermentation belong to the house's cellar method.

The Producer

Edmé Champy founded the business in 1720 as a barrel-maker and wine merchant. The red range gives that history a bottle-level form: Bourgogne Pinot Noir Cuvée Edme is a regional Bourgogne red, while Pernand-Vergelesses Clos de Bully names the Pernand-Vergelesses locality and is 100% Pinot Noir. One bottle speaks in regional terms; the other ties Pinot Noir to a named place and marl limestone.

Place

Start with the label language. Bourgogne is the regional name carried by Cuvée Edme, so its place is broad within Burgundy's wine geography. Clos de Bully narrows the frame to Pernand-Vergelesses and a named locality. The change in wording changes the question asked of the bottle: Cuvée Edme introduces the house through regional Bourgogne Pinot Noir, while Clos de Bully asks you to follow one named locality through Pinot Noir, marl limestone and a mineral-fresh finish.

Soil And Site

The Clos de Bully locality is on limestone marl. Maison Champy dates the planting to 1158 and attributes it to monks of Abbaye de Maizières, describing the locality as one of Burgundy's oldest vineyards. Its tasting note carries the site into the glass through a mineral and smoky background behind small red and black fruits. The marl limestone is more than a line on a label: it sits beside fruit, fine tannin and mineral freshness in the wine's description.

Story

Maison Champy's history changes scale in 1889. The winery building was designed in Eiffel-style architecture and equipped with a Houdard pasteurizing machine. A business founded by a barrel-maker and wine merchant now had a winery and named cellar technology. The past is something you can picture: a designed building, a named machine and a working wine house. Maison Champy follows traditional Burgundian techniques, so the old equipment sits beside indigenous yeast, whole-cluster pressing for whites and barrel fermentation.

Vineyards And Cellar

Organic farming and HVE certification define the vineyard work. In the cellar, indigenous yeast is used across the range, whole-cluster pressing is used for whites, and fermentation takes place in barrels. Those are broad house practices, while the named reds keep their differences in the glass: Cuvée Edme brings small black fruit, vanilla and coated tannins; Clos de Bully brings mineral smoke and fine tannins. Farming, grape and cellar technique stay distinct, so each bottle can be read through its own fruit and mouthfeel.

Wines

At the regional Bourgogne level, Bourgogne Pinot Noir Cuvée Edme is a red Pinot Noir with a very open nose of small black fruit, vanilla and a finely woody background. Its palate is fresh, supple and round, with a lively shape, coated tannins and a tart finish. The wine moves from dark fruit and vanilla through fine wood to a palate that stays rounded before the tart close.

Clos de Bully changes the register through a named locality and a single grape. Pernand-Vergelesses Clos de Bully is 100% Pinot Noir, dark garnet in colour, with small red and black fruits over mineral and smoky notes linked to the marl limestone. Its red and black fruit, mineral background and fine tannins give the more specific place a different bottle shape from the regional Bourgogne red.

Across the wider portfolio, the range moves from regional Bourgogne through village and Premier Cru levels to Grand Cru Corton-Charlemagne, with Clos de Bully also named. The labels therefore cover different geographic and hierarchical positions, while the two red examples keep the comparison tangible: Cuvée Edme finishes tart after coated tannins; Clos de Bully finishes with fruit and mineral freshness after fine tannins.

In The Glass

Clos de Bully opens dark garnet with a bright shine. Small red and black fruits rise first, followed by mineral and smoky notes that echo the marl limestone named for the locality. On the palate, the fruit stays fresh and fruity, with a well-delineated shape and fine tannins that give the wine a firm edge without obscuring the fruit. The finish persists on fruit and mineral freshness. Pinot Noir supplies the fruit, the marl-limestone site frames the aroma, and fine tannins carry the wine into a mineral finish.

A Bottle To Understand It

Bourgogne Pinot Noir Cuvée Edme is the first bottle to try because its regional Bourgogne name and Pinot Noir grape make the place and variety visible from the label onward. The nose is very open, with small black fruit and vanilla over a finely woody background. On the palate, it is fresh, supple and round, with a lively shape, coated tannins and a tart finish. The bottle joins place, grape, aroma, mouthfeel and finish in a clear sequence. Begin here with the regional red, then let the rest of the range add more specific place names.

Anecdote

In 1891, Maison Champy's premises held a technical laboratory under Louis Pasteur's supervision. The house had begun in 1720, when Edmé Champy founded the business as a barrel-maker and wine merchant. Four years before the laboratory appeared, its winery building had been designed in Eiffel-style architecture and equipped with a Houdard pasteurizing machine. By 1891, the premises carried three physical markers of its working history: a winery building, a named pasteurizing machine and a technical laboratory under Louis Pasteur's supervision.

Final Word

Maison Champy brings together a 1720 beginning in barrel-making and wine trading, an 1889 winery building with a Houdard pasteurizing machine, organic and HVE vineyard work, and traditional cellar methods using indigenous yeast, whole-cluster pressing for whites and barrel fermentation. Its two named Pinot Noir reds keep the story tangible: Cuvée Edme is fresh, supple and round with a tart finish at the regional Bourgogne level; Clos de Bully places red and black fruit over marl-limestone mineral and smoky notes, then finishes with fruit and mineral freshness. Dates, equipment, farming and cellar choices all arrive in the bottles through grape, place, tannin and finish.

Sources

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