The history of the Saintot family is linked to that of Champagne since 1918 thanks to Firmin Saintot. Reformed nearly having been wounded during the War, he settled at the request of the Champagne Leclerc Brillant in the village of Avenay Val d'Or to exercise the hard job of plow worker. Very quickly, horses and mules became his comrades in arms to carry out the viticultural work.
Quickly, his son Clément decided to follow in his footsteps. He became a winegrower and founded his own brand. The passion for the trade and the land also touched the eldest of his children, William. Barely 22 years old, but very independent by nature, he decides to buy his first wasteland: «Les Noues». With his wife Paule, they acquired land to plant and vines, while working for the Bollinger House.
Also responsible for the communal hall for the heating of vines, William decides to set up as a nursery owner to sell grafted plants to his peers. It must be said that at that time, a pest from America devastated almost all of Europe’s vineyards. The only solution is to replant the vineyard with grafted plants that are resistant to phylloxera.
In 1995, their children, Henri and Nathalie, later supported by her husband Maurice, took on the task of sustaining the business, developing the winemaking process and expanding the range. In 2000, Nathalie built the pressing centre and the winery to enrich and optimize the vinification.
2000In 2008, Gwenn and Morgann, Nathalie’s children, joined the family adventure. Each with his specialty. Morgann brought the vineyard to an environmental certification (HVE) and created its first parcel wine while its sister developed commercial activity (both in France and abroad) while consolidating the House’s image.
Out of love, in 2016, Gwenn slipped away to follow her husband, who also evolves in the wine industry. Today, therefore, it is the mother and the son who embody, under the status of Independent Winemakers, the energy, philosophy, and values of the Estate so dear to William Saintot: open-mindedness, a taste for effort and respect for the living.
