A man, a woman

The beginnings are of Virtues, a predestined name. Chantal and Pierre were pressed into service to do so after the untimely death of their father Philippe. At 22 years old, she had made an eloquent journey at the Ecole Polytechnique Feminine (ETH), then completed her diploma in viticulture and oenology in Beaune at age 23. The awareness of a dual affiliation to a 6 generations winegrower line and to a fabulous terroir, was to bond the brother and the sister.

A profound sense of responsibility and the unwavering desire to go further did the rest. Chantal lived with her young family in Singapore where she traded by the love of the family’s champagne. Pierre alone learned his trade.

The irremediable absence of their father, instead of weakening the champagne, reinforced its design and ambition of excellence: to create champagnes, worthy of the mythical terroirs grand cru of Le Mesnil-sur-Oger where the Gonet family was housed since 1910 when Charles Gonet, the founder’s son, married to Marie-Louise Gardien daughter of a winemaker, leaned every day on his plots. Charles loved commerce, whose talent invaded the markets of France.

In the 1950s, Jacques, his charming and worldly son, seduced the spheres of luxury, haute couture, gastronomy, the chefs of Lenôtre and Lucas-Carton who became his friend.

Agronomic science and oenology applied by Philippe, brilliant engineer, moved the Gonet bubbles from the courtyard to the champagne elite.

Imprinted with the family philosophy, Chantal and Pierre created their first wine Roy Soleil. Then came another vintage Belemnita, Extra-brut 3210 and two flashes of inspiration, TER Black and TER Blanc, the latest pure gem of Gonet jewelry.