Der Champagner DRAPPIER steht vor allem für eine Familie, deren Stammbaum bis 1604 zurückgeht. Seit der Zeit Napoleons werden in Urville (Süd-Champagne) die Weingärten der besten Lagen bewirtschaftet, die mit den Rebsorten Pinot Noir 70 %, Chardonnay 15 % und Pinot Meunier 15 % bepflanzt sind. Die Champagner, die nach alter traditioneller Art ausgebaut werden, reifen in Kellern heran, die im 12. Jahrhundert von den Zisterzienmönchen der Abtei Clairvaux erbaut wurden. Durch unzählige weltweite positive Beurteilungen vom Fachpublikum der letzten Jahren hat sich das Haus DRAPPIER, geführt in der siebte Generation von Michel DRAPPIER, qualitativ in die zehn Top-Häuser des Champagner herangearbeitet.

Very well-known in the 19^th Century this House fell in to obscurity before being acquired in 1974 by the Chiquets, a family of growers and negociants. They moved the cellars to their home village of Dizy in the Grande Vallée de la Marne near Ay, where they undertook the total deconstruction and rebuilding of the house to the model operation it is today. All credit for this should go to the forty-something brothers, Jean-Hervé and Laurent Chiquet, both of whom are passionate about great wines. At its base the House relies on good holdings of 30 hectares in Avize, Ay, Dizy and Hautvilliers but it also has secure supplies from growers in the same prestigious villages where it farms. Despite their success, volumes are not increasing; on the contrary the House is focusing even more on its core cuvées which have so much personality. They continue to vinify on the lees in oak foudres, there is little or no dosage, the wines are completely unfiltered. Instead of a name, the non-vintage cuvée bears a number (730, 731 etc) which changes every year; this wine reflects the characteristics of the base year with a blend of half chardonnay and a quarter each of pinot noir and pinot meunier (all from the Grands and Premiers Crus in the Grande Vallée de la Marne).

The wines: the Brut 733 bears the stamp of the abundant and successful 2005 vintage (73%), precise in its flavours with a perfectly rounded finish. The Avize 2000 continues its brilliant career as a Grand Cru champagne, with a dense acidity and exemplary salinity which give it a wonderful mouthfeel; it is a champagne for food, just like the colourful Dizy Terres Rouges 2004, a generous rosé de saignée to be enjoyed in its firm-fleshed youth. Still available is the 1997, which is meatier and more generous than last year and has achieved a lovely balance – it is now at its peak. New this year, adding justification to the award of their third star: the release of a trilogy of vintages as late disgorged wines. There is the through and through mocha and creamy 1990; the awesomely fresh and balanced 1989; and leading both of these by a short head, the immortal, immense and imperious 1988. An anthology of three champagnes, released at sensible prices.