OUR STORY

The first chapters were written by our ancestors. We go back a little before the beginning of the 20th century which was a particularly critical period for the vineyard industry.

At the end of the 19th century, the vines were damaged by phylloxera.

The Champagne winemakers experienced great poverty and are annoyed by the resulting excessive production of champagne by some. Also, bad weather conditions made the 1910 harvest almost non-existent.

Three brothers (Yvon, Maurice and Henri) work their vines on the soil of Nogent L’Abbesse, supported by their sister (Marthe). Later Lucien FOSSE join the team when he marries Marthe.

During the First World War , the vines were ravaged. Those that remained were in bad condition. The lost of revenue was heavy.

But thanks to new technologies, the cultivation of vines starts again and improves. A cooperative movement is developing.

Lucien marries Marthe in the early 1920s.

They sell their entire annual harvest by the weight. They have two children: Jacques and Hélène.

Then World War II begins. The damage will be less than in World War I. The Champagne region found itself a little further away from the battlefields but theproducers are faced with difficulties of all kinds. However, production methods are improving.

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The marketing of champagne is growing faster. The FOSSE family continues to sell its harvest by weight.

Their daughter, Hélène, meets Bernard LAQUILLE and marries him in 1965. Her husband comes from a farming family located in Cernay-Lès-Reims. Pauline and Raymond LAQUILLE, Bernard’s parents, had a dairy cows farm and kept horses.They also grew cereals, lucerne and sugarbeets.

After their marriage, the family farm concentrates on two sectors of activity: agriculture and viticulture.

 

Hélène and Bernard stop the dairy farm but continue growing cereals and sugar beets. In the year of their marriage, they begin to plant their first vines. The winery now expands over Cernay-Lès-Reims and Nogent l’Abbesse.

After several years of work, the couple sells their first bottles in 1972 under the champagne brand «LAQUILLE Bernard». Three children were born of their marriage. Their son Patrick had always worked with them and quickly finds his vocation.

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In 1996, he takes over 1/3 of the family business. Later he expands the winery to the Domaine de Montgueux. In 2020, together with his wife Stéphanie, they creates the Champagne brand «JH LAQUILLE».