Since Nicolas LE CACHEUR and Françoise REMY married in 1696, there have been 12 family generations on the famous hillsides of Aÿ, over the past three centuries.
In the early 20th century, great-grandfather Emile MICHEL-LE CACHEUR was a fervent defender of the winemakers’ interests in Champagne. In 1911, he became one of the founding members of today’s SGV champagne syndicate. His daughter, Marie, married Charles GATINOIS in 1921 and continued her father’s work: the GATINOIS name has appeared on the bottles ever since.
Emile and Micheline GATINOIS took over the domaine after the Second World War. Between 1980 and 2010, their daughter Marie and her husband Pierre CHEVAL were at the helm of the prestigious family company. Dedication is clearly a family trait which has been passed on, as Pierre is the founder of the Villa Bissinger (The National Institute of Wines from Champagne) and currently chairs the Champagne Landscapes Association that lead to their listing to the Unesco World Heritage list in 2015. His son, Louis, now perpetuates the family’s 300 years of knowhow.