One had to be either a visionary or quite reckless (probably a little of both) to buy plots of land in vineyards that had been destroyed by phylloxera only a few years earlier. This is what Alfred Bonville did, however, seeking out and purchasing land that held promise for him. He limited his acquisition of land to a defined perimeter, one that was only a few hours away by horse from his home in Oger.

At the beginning of the 1930s, the economic situation deteriorated. Alfred’s stubbornness, motivated by the birth of his son Franck Bonville, encouraged him to continue down this “Belle Voie”… this beautiful path. In 1937, they bought a wine grower’s house in the center of the village of Avize. It came equipped with a wine press, oak casks and a cellar dating from the 19th century.

After the liberation from the Germans of our production facilities, Franck started to commercialize cuvées in his name and continued to enlarge his estate around Avize. In the 1960s, the work in the vineyards became less laborious thanks to a major agricultural revolution, the tractor.

His son Gilles and his wife introduced better-adapted technology to the existing facilities. The large casks were gradually replaced by small steel enameled vats and then, in the 1990s, by stainless steel vats, bringing even more convenience and precision to the winemaking.

The fourth generation of wine growers, represented by Olivier Bonville, perpetuate the family adventure.

After receiving the National Diploma of Oenology (D.N.O) in Reims and gaining experiences in Corsica and Germany, Olivier joined Ingrid and Gilles at the estate and started to implement sustainable viticulture in the vineyards.

Passionate and committed to the cultivation of our vines and their environment, I would like to share with you, through our cuvées, the purest expression of our magnificent terroir.