Amaury Beaufort

Amaury, grew up in Ambonnay and is the son of Jacques Beaufort, one of the first pioneers of organic and biodynamic cultivation in Champagne in the 1970s. Jacques was the second producer in Champagne to make his wines from 100% organic grapes in the 1970s. Since then, they have remained organic and added biodynamics.

Amaury took sustainable farming even further and stopped spraying sulphur and copper in the vineyards before leaving the family winery in 2018 to focus on farming his own one-hectare plot in Polisy and setting up his own winery.

His father Jacques bought three hectares of land in the village of Polisy on the Côte des Bar 50 years ago and kept it for his children. Amaury was given the plot in the middle of the three, which has the advantage of being surrounded by his siblings' plots and the forest at the top of the slope, protecting him from the neighbors' chemical farming.

As this is a Beaufort plot, the vines have never seen chemicals. The hillside parcel is planted 4/5 with Pinot Noir and 1/5 with Chardonnay. At the top of the slope, the vines are planted on Kimmeridgian marl, with Portland marl taking over as the altitude decreases. The parcel is not only visually impressive, but also unique in the way the vines are trained: Amaury no longer prunes the vines so that the roots can grow deeper. This increases the resilience of the vines in times of drought and ensures more complexity and energy in the wine.

Amaury's work begins and ends in the vineyard, which he affectionately refers to as his "garden". For him, vinification takes a back seat - it is more of a "hobby". Nevertheless, his work in the wine cellar is precise and well thought out: all still wines mature for two years in foudres, which promote the natural movement of the yeast. The second fermentation takes place exclusively with his own indigenous yeasts - a sophisticated approach that only a few producers in Champagne practice. No sulphur is added to any of the wines.