CHAMPAGNE AR LENOBLE

Champagne, France

The story begins in 1870. During the war, Joseph Graser flees the Germans and leaves his native Alsace and walks all the way to Epernay in Champagne, the place where his wife Alice was born. He dies suddenly in the street at the age of 44. His son Armand-Raphaël, who had dreamed of becoming a doctor, is forced by nature to become head of the family at a very young age and starts his professional life as a wine broker instead.

In 1920, Armand-Raphaël starts to produce his own wines under the name of Champagne Graser, although he quickly changes the name of his house to AR Lenoble. With the armistice still fresh in mind, he decided that a name with German connotations was perhaps not the best idea. He creates his own brand called « AR Lenoble », combining his initials « AR » with « Lenoble » as a tribute to the nobility of the wines of Champagne.

4 generations will then succeed each other each one of them promising to keep the domaine in the family as well as completely independent, and each one of them armed with strong convictions defended with commitment and devotion.

Today, the domaine is managed by the sister and brother team of Anne and Antoine Malassagne. For over 20 years, guided by their convictions, they have shaped the wines of Champagne AR Lenoble. By deciding not to accept tempting takeover bids along the way that could have allowed for easier and more accelerated development prospects, they have been able to preserve their freedom.

AR Lenoble is one of the rare producers in Champagne that has been consistently family-owned and entirely independent since the very beginning. Sister-and-brother owners Anne and Antoine Malassagne are the great-grandchildren of Armand-Raphaël Graser. They took over in 1993 from their father and in just over twenty years, they have quietly yet confidently transformed AR Lenoble into one of the jewels of the Champagne region. AR Lenoble was the second House in Champagne to be awarded the “Haute Valeur Environnementale” certification as part of a legal measure implemented under French law in 2007 to encourage sustainable development

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