Maison Croizet

Before he was a distiller, Simon Croizet was a sommelier — attached to Napoleon I’s military command. He founded the Maison in 1805, in the limestone quarries beneath Saint-Même-les-Carrières, in the heart of Grande Champagne. Eight generations of cellar masters have worked those galleries since. The archives hold labels documenting harvests to 1795 — a decade before the Maison itself existed.

The Cellars

The galleries beneath Saint-Même-les-Carrières are former Turonian limestone quarries, worked from the twelfth century onward. Stone from these cavities built the Rochefort naval arsenal under Colbert. Repurposed as cognac cellars, they hold a constant temperature and humidity at depth — conditions that allow the Maison’s reserves to mature over decades. The walls are black with Baudoinia compniacensis, the mould that feeds on spirit escaping through oak. It grows nowhere else. The oldest eaux-de-vie have left wood altogether, resting in sealed glass demijohns — the paradis — since 1795.

The Reconstitution

When phylloxera reached the Charente in the early 1870s, Léon Benjamin Croizet (1842–1911) was among the first to respond. He began with private grafting trials in 1871 and expanded to a public experimental field by 1883. His methods drew the attention of the regional authorities and eventually of the Ministry of Agriculture itself, which described him as “the initiator, propagator, and populariser of the work of reconstitution of the Charentais vineyard.” In 1902, he was appointed Chevalier of the Légion d’Honneur. The vineyards he saved are the vineyards the Maison still works today.

The Estate

Private Appointments

The Maison is open by prior appointment. Visits take in the twelfth-century underground galleries, the working distillery, and a tasting programme agreed individually with each group.

contact@croizet.fr

+33 545 81 90 11

9 Rue du Dorland, 16720,
Saint-Même-les-Carrières, France

The Maison at a Glance

The Foundation

One of three Maisons — alongside Hine and Delamain — recognised by the BNIC for continuous records of vintage stock under the two-key system. Documented reserves predate the founding itself.

Grape icon — Grande Champagne premier cru vineyards

The Terroir

The estate spans approximately 150 hectares in Grande Champagne, including Château de l’Épine and Domaine des Couronnes de Douvesse.

Record icon — Croizet Guinness World Records

Guinness Records

Three Guinness World Records, each set with the Cuvée Léonie 1858: most expensive bottle (Shanghai, 2011), cocktail (Melbourne, 2013), and measure (Hong Kong, 2016).

The Tables

Documented as Fournisseur de M. le Président de la République on late nineteenth-century trade labels. Retailed by Fortnum & Mason. Served at Troisgros, La Tour d’Argent, and Vergé. In 1957, The Tatler recorded a 1906 vintage alongside a 1952 Romanée-Conti.

The Awards

Gold at the Paris Expositions of 1878 and 1900. Grand Prix at London (1908) and Brussels (1910). Double Gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. Paul Pacult’s Ultimate Spirits Challenge: 95 points — “Extraordinary, Ultimate Recommendation.”

The Depths

Approximately 50 hectares of underground cavities mapped by the BRGM. Former Turonian quarries whose walls carry the permanent black deposit of Baudoinia compniacensis — the mark of spirits ageing in wood.

The Records

Three Guinness World Records — each set with the Cuvée Léonie 1858, a pre-phylloxera vintage named after Léonie Croizet, whose 1892 marriage to Pierre Jean Eymard united the families that would direct the Maison for the century that followed.

The Most Expensive
The Bottle

The Cuvée Léonie 1858 sold for CN¥1,000,000 at the Swatch Art Peace Hotel, Shanghai, on 24 September 2011. The South China Morning Post reported it as the first cognac-only auction held on the Chinese mainland. Certified as the most expensive cognac bottle.

The Most Expensive
The Measure

A 40 ml measure sold at the InterContinental Hong Kong for HK$68,000 on 9 November 2016, with proceeds donated to AIDS Concern. Certified as the most expensive cognac measure.

The Cocktail

‘The Winston,’ prepared at Club 23, Crown Casino, Melbourne, on 7 February 2013 using 60 ml of the Cuvée Léonie 1858. It sold for A$12,500. Certified as the most expensive cocktail.

The Archive

Documented facts about the Maison and its history, drawn from the Légion d’Honneur dossier, the Archives nationales, nineteenth-century exhibition records, and published reference works including Nicholas Faith’s Classic Brandy (2001) and Conal R. Gregory’s The Cognac Companion (1997).

What is the origin of the Croizet emblem?

The emblem derives from a keystone carved by stonemason Guillaume Bouneau in 1731, installed in the parish church of Sainte-Maxime at Saint-Même-les-Carrières. It bears two escutcheons surmounted by a crown with a fleuron: one displaying the arms of the de Culant family, then seigneurs of the commune; the other a mason’s inscription reading “Fait Par Moi Guillaume Bouneau 1731.” The Maison adopted this double escutcheon as its mark. It appears on every bottle.

What is the traditional distillation method?

Double distillation in copper pot stills — alambics charentais — in accordance with appellation d’origine contrôlée regulations. The first pass yields the brouillis at roughly 28–32% ABV; the second, the bonne chauffe, at roughly 70%. The season runs from October to 31 March. The spirit then ages in Limousin and Tronçais oak within the underground cellars. The oldest reserves eventually leave wood entirely, transferred to glass demijohns — the paradis — where they rest without further contact with oak.

How does the Maison guarantee the age of its Single Vintage cognacs?

Croizet is one of three houses — alongside Hine and Delamain — that maintained continuous vintage-dated records during a period when the BNIC restricted millésimé labelling, beginning in 1962. Integrity is guaranteed by the two-key system: one key held by the cellar master, the other by an independent BNIC inspector. Access requires both present simultaneously. The oldest surviving labels document a Grande Fine Champagne dated 1795 and a Réserve Royale dated 1800. Some early vintages were presented in Baccarat crystal decanters; the 1894 Réserve Royale has appeared at auction houses including Bonhams.

How did the Maison establish its international presence?

The Maison maintained agents across four continents: L. Labadens & Cía in Buenos Aires, M. G. Zacher in Alexandria, Standard Wine & Liquor Co. on Lafayette Street in New York. Croizet was represented at the Melbourne International Exhibition of 1880–1881, receiving a Second Order of Merit, and produced a dedicated “Over-Seas Limited” label for Canadian Pacific Empress ocean liners. In 1898, The Lancet published an independent laboratory analysis of the Maison’s shipments, noting an alcohol content of 38.50–39.30% by weight.

Which historic establishments have served Croizet cognac?

Late nineteenth-century trade labels record the Maison as Fournisseur de M. le Président de la République, purveyor to the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique, and supplier to the Hôtel Continental and Grand Hôtel in Paris. Croizet appeared on the wine lists at Troisgros, La Tour d’Argent, and Vergé, and was retailed by Fortnum & Mason under their royal warrant. At the 1889 Exposition Universelle — the exhibition that unveiled the Eiffel Tower — Léon Benjamin Croizet served as jury member hors concours, a distinction for exhibitors of established reputation. The Maison held the same status in 1900, when Jean Eymard received a gold medal.

Maison Croizet

The Cellars

The Reconstitution