Laurent Champs

The Path

Since 1989, Laurent Champs has served as winemaker and head of the family estate at Vilmart & Cie. That long tenure reads as continuity rather than display. The work has stayed anchored to one place and one house, built through the accumulation of decisions that shape style over time. At Vilmart & Cie, his path has been marked by stewardship: holding the domaine's rhythms, and meeting the demands of making wine at the level the estate requires.

The Work Today

At Vilmart & Cie, Champs oversees the domaine with a stated philosophy that is plain and exact: a winemaker must be patient and humble. The line fits a cellar practice that does not force outcomes, but guides them. It points to a way of working in which tasting, waiting, and restraint matter as much as instinct, and each vintage is given the space to show itself. His own words sharpen that view of the work: "My heart and mind are the soul of my wine." The phrase ties cellar and estate together as one practice of attention, memory, and care. It is brief, but it says enough about the level of personal involvement behind the wines.

Signature

Laurent's signature wines include Grand Cellier, Rosé Emotion, and Grand Réserve Extra Brut. Together, these names mark the range of his work at Vilmart & Cie: wines that carry the estate's identity and the measured hand behind them. Each one sits within the larger exchange between place, house, and practice that defines his work in Rilly-la-Montagne.

In Their Words “My heart and mind are the soul of my wine.”

Acclaim

Recognition for Laurent Champs comes through the work itself at Vilmart & Cie in Rilly-la-Montagne: winemaker and steward of the domaine. The authority here is cumulative, built on consistency and long attention rather than performance. Since 1989, he has carried the family estate's responsibilities with a quiet confidence that leaves the wines to do the talking.