Veuve Clicquot's manor in Verzy, among the Grand Cru vineyards of the Montagne de Reims, photographed from first light to midday.
Client: Veuve Clicquot
We made: Photography
Where: Verzy, near Reims, France
A house among the vines
The Manoir de Verzy stands on the site of the former Clos St Basle abbey, where the monks grew their own vines. Veuve Clicquot has owned it since 1891, and today the house hosts its tastings and guests there. Verzy is one of the 17 Grand Cru villages of Champagne, and the Pinot Noir grown on its slopes is the grape Madame Clicquot favoured.
From first light
We started before sunrise, with the sun coming up through the iron gates and over the Champagne plain, and worked through the manor as the light came in: dark rooms opening onto the garden, the ivy turning red on the façade, a vintage car under the trees.
For Veuve Clicquot's marketing we photographed the house and its styling: orange umbrellas on the stair rail, boots on an armchair, a white peacock in a bow tie, the vine rows running out to the horizon. The drone frames place the manor in its village, with the bell tower against the morning sun.
It was a privilege to photograph a Champagne house that has been part of Reims since 1772, in its own vineyards.
Photographs: Ripple Narratives