Chanoine Frères

Editorial profile

Champagne Chanoine Frères is a historic house founded in Épernay in 1730 by Pierre Chanoine. The house's current history links its earliest cellars to the period immediately after the royal edict of 1728 permitted Champagne wine to be transported in bottles, and records a long family and commercial history before the business eventually moved to Allée du Vignoble in Reims in 1991.

The present Chanoine Frères identity received a significant refresh in 2024, when the house launched a redesigned range inspired in part by its nineteenth-century label heritage. Enguerrand Baijot has been president of Champagne Chanoine Frères since 2023.

Chanoine Frères should be distinguished from Tsarine. Both sit within Maison Chanoine, but they are separate consumer-facing brands with different range identities. The current Chanoine Frères range is explicitly organised around Pinot Noir-majority blends, complemented by Chardonnay and Meunier.

Why this producer matters

Chanoine Frères combines one of Champagne's longest house histories with a recently renewed product identity. That makes it more interesting than a heritage label left unchanged for decades: the 2024 relaunch takes a house founded in 1730 and gives it a clearly defined modern range.

Pinot Noir is the organising grape. The house says its Pinot Noir is sourced mainly from the Côte des Bar, while Chardonnay for Blanc de Blancs comes from the Sézannais and Côte des Blancs. The range therefore uses regional sourcing deliberately rather than presenting one estate vineyard as the source of the house style.

The wines also offer straightforward internal contrasts: Brut and Demi-Sec share the same three-grape proportions but differ in dosage style; Rosé increases the Pinot Noir share; Blanc de Noirs removes Chardonnay entirely; Blanc de Blancs moves to 100% Chardonnay; and Vintage 2014 provides a year-specific Pinot Noir/Chardonnay blend.

House history and Reims base

Pierre Chanoine founded the house in Épernay in 1730, developing the family's wine-trading activity into an international business. The house later adopted the Chanoine Frères name.

Its current history records an early role in bottled Champagne commerce and the creation of a printed Champagne label in 1830. In 1991 the company moved to Allée du Vignoble in Reims, where it constructed one of Champagne's early above-ground cellar facilities.

The house now operates from Reims with a team it describes as around forty people. The 2024 range relaunch was designed to reconnect the current wines with Chanoine Frères' own historical identity rather than folding them into the separate Tsarine brand.

Sourcing and house style

The current range is built principally around Pinot Noir, with Meunier and Chardonnay used according to cuvée. Chanoine Frères identifies the Côte des Bar as its principal Pinot Noir sourcing area.

For Blanc de Blancs, the house names the Sézannais and Côte des Blancs as its Chardonnay sources. These are sourcing regions, not claims that Chanoine Frères owns specific vineyard parcels there.

This broad regional model fits the house's merchant history: the point is blending across Champagne rather than expressing one family estate or single village.

Current and meaningful cuvées

• Brut — the core current blend is 50% Pinot Noir, 30% Meunier and 20% Chardonnay. The current shop identifies the surfaced release with a 2022 harvest base; future base years should be read from the release in question.
• Rosé — currently 58% Pinot Noir, 29% Meunier and 13% Chardonnay, with the Pinot Noir figure including 8% red wine.
• Demi-Sec — 50% Pinot Noir, 30% Meunier and 20% Chardonnay, using the same grape architecture as Brut but in the sweeter style.
• Blanc de Noirs — 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Meunier, with Pinot Noir sourced mainly from the Côte des Bar according to the house.
• Blanc de Blancs — 100% Chardonnay, with current sourcing identified as the Sézannais and Côte des Blancs.
• Vintage 2014 — the current vintage page gives 55% Pinot Noir and 45% Chardonnay for the 2014 release.

Champagne.co analysis

The modern Chanoine Frères range is unusually easy to read because the house has made Pinot Noir the common thread rather than trying to give every cuvée a completely separate identity. Brut, Rosé, Blanc de Noirs and Vintage all retain a strong Pinot component, while Blanc de Blancs provides the cleanest break from that pattern.

The regional sourcing adds another layer. Côte des Bar Pinot Noir gives the house a southern Champagne anchor, while Chardonnay from the Sézannais and Côte des Blancs broadens the geographical palette. This is not a terroir project in the grower sense; it is a house-blending model that deliberately uses regional differences.

The 2024 relaunch matters because it clarifies what Chanoine Frères is today. The brand should not be treated as an old name interchangeable with Tsarine or as a historical footnote within Maison Chanoine. It has its own current range, visual identity and Pinot-led architecture.

Buying guidance

• Best introduction: Brut gives the clearest view of the current Pinot-led three-grape house blend.
• For rosé: Rosé increases the Pinot Noir share and includes red wine in the current blend.
• For black grapes only: Blanc de Noirs removes Chardonnay and combines Pinot Noir with Meunier.
• For Chardonnay: Blanc de Blancs is the direct 100% Chardonnay counterpoint, sourced from the Sézannais and Côte des Blancs.
• For a vintage expression: Vintage 2014 is the current year-specific reference and should be considered as that particular release rather than a timeless blend.
• For a sweeter style: Demi-Sec keeps the same current grape proportions as Brut while moving into a different dosage category.