Alexandre Ponnavoy

The Climb

Training at Institut Jules Guyot, University of Burgundy gave Alexandre Ponnavoy the disciplinary base for his later work: precision, structure, and the ability to read detail as part of the job. The arc is technical first, with each post tightening the same skill set rather than replacing it. That build-up continued at Maison Taittinger in Reims region, where Alexandre Ponnavoy served as Deputy Cellar Master from 2015 to 2018. The role placed him closer to the house’s daily decisions and longer view, before he stepped into the Cellar Master position at Maison Taittinger (since 2018). The sequence matters: consultation, deputy stewardship, then full responsibility for shape and continuity.

Today

Since 2018, Alexandre Ponnavoy has served as Cellar Master at Taittinger in Reims, with responsibility that runs from vineyard to finished bottle. He describes that span plainly: “From the vineyard to the bottle, there is an alchemy that corresponds to many of the aspects of what I was looking for professionally.” That line points to a practice organized around continuity. The work is not a single act at the cellar door, but a chain of connected calls across the life of the wine, each one depending on the last. For Alexandre Ponnavoy, the position suits a career formed through technical practice, consultancy, deputy leadership, and then the broader authorship of cellar responsibility.

Signature

Alexandre's signature wines include Brut Réserve and Cuvée Prestige Rosé.

In Their Words “When people ask me how I would describe this cuvee, I always say that I view the Brut Réserve as an entry point into the world of Taittinger.” “From the vineyard to the bottle, there is an alchemy that corresponds to many of the aspects of what I was looking for professionally.”

Recognition

Several cuvées mark the way Alexandre Ponnavoy’s work is encountered in the house range. Comtes de Champagne is Taittinger’s prestige cuvée, and its standing within the lineup gives it a different kind of weight from the everyday range. Cuvée Prestige Rosé has also been presented through his voice; he introduced it in a Taittinger podcaps episode, giving the wine a spoken place alongside its bottle identity. Folies de la Marquetterie sits on the same map of visible work. Alexandre Ponnavoy discussed it in a special tasting that revisited the cuvée through the years, placing it in a longer frame rather than treating it as a single release.