2013 Petit & Bajan, “Promise” Brut Grand Cru Champagne

Champagne Petit & Bajan: Champagne with a sense of place

Richard Petit and Véronique Bajan, the husband and wife behind Champagne Petit & Bajan were both born into wine families. And, like nearly all growers in the region, both families sold most of their grapes to larger Champagne houses or negociants. 

When Richard and Véronique were married, they didn’t just bring a love of each other – and a love of wine – to the marriage, they had also both recently inherited some of the most prestigious vines in the entire Champagne region. You see, Richard inherited roughly two acres of Chardonnay grapes in Avize, a Grand Cru in the Cote de Blanc. Véronique, meanwhile, had inherited five acres of pinot noir from her family’s plot of vines in Verzenay, a famous Grand Cru in the Grande Montagne de Reims.

With Richard’s intuitive vineyard management, and Véronique’s exceptional palate, they knew they had a special opportunity in front of them: to combine their love of each other with their respect for the grapes and the land and create a Champagne label that reflected both.

The First Vintage

The first vintage of Champagne Petit & Bajan was released in 2008, and the timing couldn’t have been better. 2008 was a year of financial turmoil and one that saw a significant number of consumers eschewing corporate brands, some of which they blamed for the economic downturn, in favor of small businesses. 

This movement rippled through every economic sector, but its impact on the wine industry led to a rise in “artisanal” wines from family-owned labels. The demand for grower Champagne had been on the rise in the late 1990s, but its popularity didn’t reach the US en masse until consumers began turning their backs on traditional Champagne houses and looked to labels like one founded by Richard and Véronique.

Grower Champagne

Today, grower Champagne is highly sought after in the US, and yet, only 5% of the Champagne imported to the US is labeled grower Champagne. Just as the name implies, grower Champagnes are Champagnes produced with grapes grown on the winemaker’s estate. Outside of the world of bubbles, you may know these as estate wines. 

What makes this trend unique, you may ask? Well, typically, grape growers in Champagne sell all of their grapes to larger domaines who would then blend the grapes from several vineyards to produce the sparkling wines that are popular the world over. 

In fact, one of the main selling points for Champagne houses like Krug, Veuve Clicquot, Bollinger or Dom Perignon, besides their luxury status, is that consumers value their consistent style and flavor profile. The same way a wine drinker who loves Silver Oak believes a bottle of Silver Oak should “taste like Silver Oak”. When someone orders a bottle of Krug, they want it to taste like Krug.

Grower Champagnes, on the other hand, are beloved by wine geeks the world over for the way the vigneron captures the spirit of the individual vineyard from which the grapes are harvested. These Champagnes embody a sense of place the same way other fine wines do. They are nuanced, full of texture, and reflect the character of the family who produced them.