Champagne Claude Cazals is run by the ebullient Delphine Cazals; her house is attached to the winery, and Delphine’s mother lives in the château inside the Clos de Cazals. The estate was founded in 1897 by Ernest Cazals, a cooper from the south of France. He was Catalan, hence the name, same as the renowned cellist, Pablo Casals. He moved to Champagne where he met his wife, and together they created a Champagne house in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger. Since then, three generations of wine-growers – including Delphine’s father Claude Cazals, who invented the gyropalette in 1969 – have followed each other at the head of the winery. This small family estate has the status of RM (Récoltant Manipulant) and produces around 5500 cases per year.