Champagne de Venoge

At A Glance

Field: Detail
Region: Champagne
Village: Épernay
Main grapes: Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, Chardonnay
Signature wines: Cordon Bleu and Princes Blanc de Noirs
Defining feature: Cordon Bleu symbol adopted in 1851
Private library: Approximately 20,000 vintage bottles

The Producer

Champagne de Venoge is a Champagne house based at 33 Avenue de Champagne in Épernay and owned by the Lanson BCC group. It produces approximately 1,700,000 bottles annually. The house's cuvée range includes Cordon Bleu and Princes, with the former built around a majority of Pinot Noir and the latter defined by grape selection from the best crus.

Place

Champagne de Venoge began in Mareuil-sur-Aÿ before operations moved to Épernay. The house therefore carries two Champagne addresses in its history, while the Princes range draws grapes from the best crus, the named growing areas used for Champagne sourcing. That selection gives the Princes wines their stated acid framework.

Story

Henri-Marc de Venoge, a Swiss emigrant from Canton of Vaud, created the house in 1837. In 1858, Champagne de Venoge created the Princes cuvée as a tribute to the Princes of Orange. The name entered the range as a cuvée and remains attached to the Princes wines.

Vineyards And Cellar

The owned vineyard estate covers 12 hectares. Isabelle Tellier serves as cellar master and oenologist. The house's documented cellar work includes extended ageing for its cuvées, with lees ageing and reserve wine ageing recorded for specific bottles.

Wines

Cordon Bleu is a Champagne cuvée with a majority of Pinot Noir, a grape that brings roundness and particular vinosity. Princes Blanc de Noirs is a Brut Champagne made entirely from Pinot Noir sourced from the Montagne de Reims. Cordon Bleu Extra Brut uses a three grape blend of 50% Pinot Noir, 25% Pinot Meunier and 25% Chardonnay, and spends 48 months on lees before disgorgement.

The range therefore moves between a Pinot Noir led house cuvée, a single grape Princes bottling and a three grape Extra Brut. The Princes family is built around meticulous selection from the best crus, while Cordon Bleu expresses the roundness and vinosity associated with Pinot Noir.

In The Glass

Princes Blanc de Noirs opens with fresh red fruit and black cherry. The palate brings mineral and saline qualities through the middle, followed by a delicate, fine tuned balance and a long finish. Pinot Noir supplies the fruit profile, while the Montagne de Reims origin gives the wine its regional frame.

Cordon Bleu Extra Brut shows white fruit dusted in citrus. Its mid palate is creamy and leesy, with a consistently fine bead of bubbles. Lees ageing can add creamy texture and savoury yeast character to sparkling wine, and that effect is direct here in the wine's mid palate and fine bead of bubbles.

A Bottle To Understand It

Choose Princes Blanc de Noirs. It is 100% Pinot Noir from the Montagne de Reims, with 30% reserve material blended and aged for a minimum of 60 months before disgorgement. This is its clearest expression of Pinot Noir from the Montagne de Reims. Cordon Bleu Extra Brut uses three grape varieties, so Princes Blanc de Noirs keeps the focus on one grape and one Champagne sub region.

Anecdote

In 1838, Henri-Marc de Venoge pioneered the first colored and illustrated label in Champagne's history. A wine label identifies the house on the bottle, while color and illustration add visual information before the cork is removed. De Venoge's label used both. It was the first colored and illustrated label recorded in Champagne, attached to a named producer and a precise year. The event belongs to the bottle's exterior, before any discussion of grape variety, reserve wine, lees ageing or dosage.

Final Word

Champagne de Venoge pairs the Cordon Bleu and Princes names with Pinot Noir, Champagne cru selection, reserve wine and extended lees ageing.

At A Glance

The Producer

Place

Story

Vineyards And Cellar

Wines

In The Glass

A Bottle To Understand It

Anecdote

Final Word

Sources

Where to go next