Ghislain Payer et Fille

The Lecourt-Barbez family has always been established in the commune of Fleury la Rivière. In the 19th century, the cultivation of the vine grew, but the work of the vine in crowds remained long and exhausting, with bad weather and disease regularly ravaging the harvest.

At the end of the 19th century, technical innovations improved the life of the winegrower, champagne prospered and so did our family.

The Payer family: originally a miller's family, one of whose sons married a beautiful winegrower from Romery (2km from Fleury la Rivière) and gave birth to Champagne Payer in 1854.

But the crisis was looming over Champagne, in 1890 phylloxera ravaged the vineyards, riots broke out in 1911, times were hard. It was then that a surge of solidarity and mutual aid between winegrowers was created. They grouped together and united their work to replant the vineyard and produce their own wines, with common tools such as presses and vats, this was the birth of the wine cooperatives.