Harvested by hand, the grapes are delicately pressed in our property and only the best juices (the cuvées) are preciously kept in heat-controlled stainless steel vats and small oak casks. The Veuve Fourny style can begin to express itself. For the specificity of our cuvees, our musts are fermented cold. Transformed into wines, they then rest quietly in our cellars until the following spring.

 

Meanwhile, several operations have taken place, such as the “batonnage” (stirring the lees in the casks) to let them release all their aromatic wealth.

 

Then comes the heart of our competence, our secret methods, the subtle moment of the blending. With the wide range of the expressions from Vertus Premier Cru, we blend the wines of the year with some reserve wines from old vintage years to guarantee the consistent style of the Veuve Fourny Champagnes.

 

Bottled for the second fermentation, our Champagnes are kept and matured on their lees. They will stay in our 19th century chalk cellars from 3 to 9 years.

 

After a long ageing period, the bottles are then riddled and disgorged to eliminate the sediment. Then the“liqueur d’expédition” (a family secret) is added to the Champagne. The liqueur, whatever its proportion in the wine, should not hide the natural characteristics of the Veuve Fourny wines. We also carefully keep a collection of vintage Champagnes, 10 to 25 years old, which we can disgorge on request.