Craft + Estate, a member of Winebow Group, said it has been named exclusive U.S. importer of Leclerc Briant, the pioneering Champagne house in Épernay.
“We are thrilled to expand our French portfolio to include Champagne and honored to welcome Leclerc Briant, an innovative estate that saw the value in biodynamic and organic farming decades ago,” said Liz Mathews, Senior Vice President of Craft + Estate. “Champagne has always been known for its elegance, but through their longstanding dedication to research, experimentation, and a distinctly non-interventionist position, Leclerc Briant has brought a renewed sense of refinement and purity to these wines.”
Established in 1872 by Lucien Leclerc, the winery began with four hectares of vineyards in Cumières. The business moved to Épernay in 1955 when Bertrand Leclerc married Jacqueline Briant and formed the négociant firm which still carries their name.
In the 1960s, Leclerc Briant was an early adopter of organic practices and one of the first to bottle single-vineyard Champagnes in the 1970s. Pascal Leclerc-Briant, Bertrand and Jacqueline’s son, began integrating biodynamic principles into the winemaking in the late 1980s, and part of the production has been Demeter certified since 2003.
Today, CEO Frédéric Zeimett and enologist Hervé Jestin, an early practitioner of bioenergetics who has overseen production since 2008, continue the legacy of this visionary house.
“Biodynamic farming and winemaking unveil the terroir and allow the identity of the cuvée to be experienced in an honest way, with nothing to mask the wine’s true characteristics—its soul,” said Zeimett, who has been committed to rebuilding the house’s collection of vineyards to now include 25 acres. “Our goal is to create gastronomic Champagne of a singular energy, which we look forward to sharing in the United States through our partnership with Craft + Estate.”