The adventure
of three enthusiasts

CHARLES LEGEND was born of three wine passionate people determination and audacity who elaborated an ideal of champagne working with a winegrower from the Cote des Bar region. Since the beginning of the project Charles Legend Champagne creators precisely aimed what they wanted: A large smoothness of bubbles and low acidities. The right method was also carefully fixed: Respect for the consumer to achieve excellence reducing sulphite and sugar. Made-to-measure without concessions: Charles Legend Champagne is undeniably a great alternative in its category: magnificent champagne that speaks for itself seducing the most demanding taste buds.

Mickael Devena

Valentine Clerc

Pierre-Emmanuel Jacquin

“Our vision of an exceptional champagne is to offer wines which are more forthright, more natural, wines which appeal to the tastes of 21st-century consumers.”

“It takes a great deal of daring and a touch of insanity to create a new product for the great champagnes market, but we must never lose sight of the fact that the quality of our product must be our major focus.”

“To follow traditional methods while introducing a new vision of champagne was the challenge which we have successfully met. With our winemaker, we make unique champagnes with passion and rigour.”

Why champagne?
I also “fell into” the world of sparkling wines, at a very early age, and was trained by my grandfather, who was a cider maker, in pruning and winemaking. Both he and my father passed on their passion to me.

Tell us about one of your champagnes’ distinctive features
As an extensive consumer of champagnes and wines, I have a “disability”: I have an intolerance to sulphites – along with almost a quarter of the population. So it was important for us to considerably reduce the quantity of sulphites in the wine, in order to limit the unpleasant effects of this preservative and offer an incomparable tasting experience.

Your perfect champagne moment?
An evening spent with friends until the early hours, accompanied by a delicate and fresh Charles Legend Blanc de blancs!

How did your passion come about?
My paternal grandfather was a wine producer and merchant in the Savoie, using the Champenoise method, while my mother’s side of the family have been cheesemakers for generations; so, you could say that I was born into the world of great wine and gastronomy, and I never wanted to leave it!

What is your favourite indulgence?
Drinking champagne without needing a reason to do so! I especially love a few glasses with a simple dinner at home, on a weeknight.
The Royal is the perfect choice for this: the vinosity of the Pinot Noir and the freshness of the Chardonnay make it a good accompaniment for many different dishes!

Why are the bubbles in Charles Legend champagnes so delicate?
Champagne is a wine first and foremost. Large bubbles, a surplus of sugar or a champagne served too cold mask the flavours of a champagne grape variety.
Delicate bubbles are for us synonymous with delicacy and excellence, and allow a champagne to be tasted and appreciated in the best way possible.

A word about your adventure?
Our paths crossed as a result of our shared passion and ambition, and together we have created Charles Legend champagnes. Coming from different regions of France, our origins and our experience allow us to offer a new vision of the champagne world, which sometimes seems mysterious and exclusive. We want to share this adventure.

What is your development strategy?
Firstly, we wanted to win over the discerning taste buds of the French, concentrating solely on this market in the early years. We are gradually opening up export markets, by selecting partners who share the same values as us: daring and excellence.

What is the most “atypical” Charles Legend champagne?
Our rosé champagne! It is a single grape variety champagne (100% Pinot Noir), something which is quite rare and is different from what you usually find. It is powerful and aromatic, with an elegant colour: it will amaze and surprise you! We have managed to make people who had drifted away from rosé champagne love it again; I am its n° 1 fan!

An atypical “terroir”,
chosen for its sunny position

The vineyard is located in the most Southern part of Champagne, the Côte des Bar region, around a hundred kilometers South from Epernay. The terroir gathers a set of natural factors which, associated to the work and to the passion of our wine makers, brings to champagnes Charles Legend their unique nature.

We exclusively work two grape varieties which express themselves completely in this particular land: the Pinot Noir and the Chardonnay.

It makes our champagnes richly aromatic and fruity, and gives them character and strength. The Chardonnay grape is distinctive for its delicate aromas. It adds lightness and freshness to our champagnes.

The Legend of a name…

The name of our Champagne, Charles Legend, is a glance to the British influence on Champagne. It is indeed a tribute to Charles II of England, who felt in love with Champagne wines on a trip to France. Through his influence, English people started to import wine in barrels so that they could handle the bottling. That time people in Champagne were struggling against bubbles produced by the yeast whereas English people emphasized production of carbon adding sugar from their Caribbean colonies. Given this enthusiasm of the British for fine bubbles, people in Champagne started to work effervescence. Then Champagne became a sparkling wine… It is of course the French expertise in wine-making, in “terroir” and that of its Champagne winemakers who, century after century, have built the reputation of champagne and which is the driving force behind Charles Legend champagnes.