Guillaume Marteaux | Bonneil, Vallée de la Marne

ORIGINS

Initially, Marcel Marteaux (Guillaume's grandfather), was a cooperative member. Then he diversified and became a nurseryman specialising in the production of Champagne vine plants, for nearly 20 years. 

Marcel weaved strong ties with his brother-in-law, Gilbert Renard. Both formed an inseparable pair in the city as well as in the vineyard. Between them, they transmitted their know-how to future generations, including Marcel’s son Joël and grandson Guillaume. 

Joël Marteaux and his wife Catherine, then winegrowers-cooperators, were influenced to become independent growers by their son Guillaume. In 1996, they therefore became a winegrower-maker and decided to produce a 100% house champagne.

It was in 2003, after completing his oenology studies, that Guillaume gradually took over part of the family business. From 75 ares at the start to 8 hectares today, Guillaume has been able to develop the farm thanks to his multidisciplinary aspirations and entrepreneurial spirit.

ENVIRONMENT

"We don't inherit the land from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children" Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Sensitive and concerned about his terroir, the Earth in general as well as the energies surrounding him, Guillaume made the choice, a few years ago, to convert his activity into organic and biodynamic viticulture. His vines have been cultivated without synthetic chemicals since this beginning of conversion. Marteaux has cultivated a healthy, robust vineyard, with good immunity and a biodiversity that allows it to be as close as possible to nature.

GUILLAUME THE WINEMAKER

Steeped in the press since childhood, the Wednesdays of Guillaume’s childhood were naturally dedicated to games in the vineyards, with his parents who also transmitted to him the value of hard work and dedication. 

At the age of 23, upon finishing his studies at the Lycée Viticole de la Champagne in Avize, Guillaume became the fifth of the Marteaux generations to continue the legacy of the family’s champagne business. 

He built his own winemaking building and began to blend his own cuvées. Passionate, he flourished each day between his vines and his winery. 

In 2018, after many years of sustainable viticulture, the vineyard went into organic conversion and Guillaume even pushed the idea further, by cultivating his vines biodynamically.

In September 2022 (after 3 full years of conversion), Guillaume officially harvested his first organic harvest.

COMMITMENTS IN THE VINEYARD

· No synthetic chemical weedkiller

· Mechanical tillage

· 100% homemade plant decoctions

· Biodynamic preparation in the copper dynamizer: 500, 501 and Maria Thun

· Herbal treatments

· Homeopathy

· Addition of natural compost

· Grinding of vine shoots for soil nutrition

· Creation of biodiversity reserves: insect hotels, planting of orchards around the vines (agroforestry), unmown areas, etc.

COMMITMENTS IN THE CELLAR

During the harvest: The fragile grapes are delicately handled and pressed very quickly just after cutting. Maximum 4 hours after picking, the harvest is therefore gently pressed, as slowly as possible in order to keep the best of the grapes.

In the winery: Guillaume is keen to practice gentle vinification and spontaneous fermentations, without inputs (apart from homeopathic doses of natural sulphur) and using native yeast strains. Without artifice and nature,  

Guillaume strives to use a very low doses of sulphites. The vinification is done in connection with the seasons, the moons, the meteorological influence and the atmospheric pressure.

The wines are respected, they are not heated: which also reduces our environmental impact.

No malolactic fermentations is carried out within the estate, this keeps the acids lively and improve the ageing of the wine marvelously. 

In the basement of the vat room, a through telluric vein influences vat n°1: the yeasts of this vat remain constantly in suspension.

Attentive to the wine cycle, Guillaume carries out its bottling on sunny days. Indeed, on a clear day, so is the wine.

Finally in Champagne, consistent with the words of Lavoisier "Nothing is created, nothing is lost, everything is transformed", 

- Grape seeds will produce oil and then cosmetic exfoliants.

- Harvest surpluses will be distilled to make ratafia, for example...

- In the cellar :

The park of Sessile oak barrels continues to grow little by little. Here the woody imprint in the champagne is not sought after. It is rather the exchange of air between the natural materials, wine - wood, and therefore the micro-oxygenation which are, for the eyes and the taste buds, very interesting.

Each cask brings its unique personal touch: the aromas developed are very different in each cask and oh so exciting. Moreover, Guillaume, always in search of novelty, experimentation and difference, has incorporated into his park of oak barrels, a sandstone jar in order to let a cuvée age there.

The Marteaux Guillaume estate took root in Bonneil, a small village listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, south of the Aisne and at the western end of the Champagne region. Nestled in the hollow of a circus of hills, the estate reveals a strong and unique terroir.

Located in the Marne Valley, this natural amphitheatre allows the vines to find all they need to flourish thanks to the diversity of the soils. The vineyard thrives on clay-silt, clay-limestone, marl and clay soils. A vein of sand crosses a slope of the vineyard, adding diversity to the local terroir and giving the wines complex and original characteristics.

Thanks to this natural amphitheatre with a drop of 120 meters and its ideal South/South-East exposure, the vines grow sheltered from the prevailing winds and produce ripe, tasty grapes.

With its vines resulting from the massal selection, the grape variety mainly established on the terroir is Pinot Meunier, which today thrives with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.