VARNIER-FANNIERE


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The history of the Varnier-Fannière estate dates back to 1860, when the Fannière family began growing grapes and selling them to the Champagne negociant houses. It was only in 1950 that the family started producing Champagne under their own name. In 1989 Denis Varnier took over the vineyards and the house we know today was born. Varnier-Fannière's vineyard holdings are tiny, just 4 hectares of exclusively Grand Cru vineyards in Avize, Oger, Oiry and Cramant. Annual production is 3000 cases in total! Varnier-Fannière's Champagnes are archetypal examples of grower Champagne. The wines are distinctly individual, precise, and clean. Winemaking is artisanal and old-fashioned, including full malolactic fermentations and the back- straining operation of an old Coquard press. Interestingly, the wines are bottled at about 10-15% less pressure than most producers. Denis’s wife Valerie took over the estate following Denis’s untimely death in 2017. In a note to us, Valerie wrote “I wish to continue the work of Denis, for him, for Champagne lovers, and in his memory…” Valerie continues to honor Denis legacy producing incredible vinous champagnes.

Reviews for this winery

Vinous

"Avize is one of the truly great villages in Champagne and is home to a number of world-class growers. In that context, Denis Varnier's wines, informed by a number of old-vine parcels, stand out for their depth, vinosity and breadth. The trademark Avize minerality is alive in the Varnier-Fannière Champagnes, but all the flavors seem to live in a rich, multi-dimensional world here."

November 2013

Vinous

Denis Varnier deserves more recognition for his Champagnes. These new releases are all exceptionally beautiful, precise and striking. Readers will find a sense of real old-vine gravitas running through most of these wines, the Rosé being the one exception.

Antonio Galloni, December 2016

Terry Theise

Ms. Varnier is an interesting and maybe even an amazing woman.

Her decision to maintain the domain after the abrupt and unexpected death of her husband Denis is stirring in many ways. She wished to carry on the legacy of the estate and the personal legacy of her departed husband. She did not come to the work naturally, and had to learn much of it on the fly. Her people, including neighbors and the small crew of estate workers, rallied around her. Meanwhile she was also raising two children, teenagers now. And then of course – covid. There is love in every single gesture here, not least because doing the work is a way of connecting herself to Denis. That alone is moving.

Yet as the years have passed, Valérie has come to understand the work better, and now she is disgorging wines she made from the ground up, rather than wines Denis had placed into tirage. She hopes they are good, she wants them to be good, but the secret I think is that she knows they are good and is proud of it. As well she might be. I had many powerful and meaningful moments visiting my friends last month, after a 3-year absence, but none was more meaningful than to tell Valérie Varnier that her Champagnes were superb, and that they tasted so much like Denis’ that no one could suppose he himself hadn’t made them.

A final point/reminder: these wines are on the creamy side due to a lower pressurage, typically 4.5 (about 15-20% less than the standard), they never see malo, and they micro-oxygenate the still wines in order to encourage tertiary development, and to use less sulfur.

Terry Theise, 2024

British Columbia