🍾 Cattier

Cattier is a family Champagne house in Chigny-les-Roses, on the Montagne de Reims, in the Marne department. According to the house, the Cattier family’s ancestors were already growing vines there in 1625. In 1918 Jean Cattier, back from the First World War, sold the first bottles of the family’s own champagne, and in 2018 the house marked its centenary. Alexandre Cattier has led the house since 2011; the house calls him the 13th generation of vine growers and the 4th of champagne producers.

In 1950, according to the house, Jean Cattier bought the Clos du Moulin, a plot planted half with Pinot Noir and half with Chardonnay; its first wine, from 1951, was vinified separately. The house’s cellars in Rilly-la-Montagne lie on three levels nearly 30 m deep. In 2006 the house launched the luxury cuvée Armand de Brignac. The range includes Brut, Blanc de Blancs, Rosé, Brut Nature, a Meunier vintage and Clos du Moulin.

Champagne is a wine with a protected designation of origin (PDO). The bubbles come only from a second fermentation in the bottle, the wine is aged for at least 15 months before sale (36 for vintage), and all production takes place only within the delimited area. Cattier is a brand; Champagne is the name of a place.

Why it matters to you. Premier cru on the label refers to the classified village where the grapes grew; “Clos du Moulin” or “Saphir” are the house’s own names. The WHO reminds: there is no safe level of alcohol.