Avize · 1820
I · Heidelberg
Jean Charles Philippe Koch was born in Heidelberg in 1799. His family kept the foremost inns of the town. Orphaned at twelve, he left Germany before the age of twenty, taking with him his share of his father’s inn.
II · Avize
He chose Avize, at the heart of the Côte des Blancs. There he bought vineyards, houses and cellars. In 1820, his Champagne House came into being. A few years later, on the rue de Cramant, he had the Château Koch d’Avize built. Naturalised French by decree in 1848, the foreigner of yesterday had become Charles Koch, proprietor and Champagne merchant.
III · Around the World
Within a generation, the founder’s sons carried the name far beyond Champagne. Gustave travelled Europe for the House — London became his foremost market.
LONDON
VIENNA ◆ PRAGUE
SAINT PETERSBURG
BERLIN ◆ MUNICH ◆ BRUSSELS
MOSCOW
Brilliant festivities were held on the Thames in honour of Champagne Koch.
In London, the most loyal customers were presented with a silver dagger.
IV · Distinctions
1859
Frédéric Bumiller, a partner of the House, was appointed fournisseur de la cour (court supplier) to Prince Friedrich Wilhelm Constantin of Hohenzollern-Hechingen. The original warrant, sealed by the prince’s own hand, is preserved in the Archives de la Marne.
1889
The house of Koch Fils exhibits alongside the great Champagne houses gathered by the Syndicat du commerce des vins de Champagne, whose collective exhibit receives the Grand Prix — the highest of all awards.
1891
Champagne Koch was served to Grand Duke Sergei, brother of the Tsar, at the Moscow exhibition.
« …among the true wines of Champagne, of unequivocal origin and renowned quality, Koch Fils, of Avize (Marne), which has since 1858 travelled the world and was so often honoured at the exhibitions… »
(translated from the French.)
V · The Emblem
The emblem of the House, after the deposit of 1879.
« Le vin des Koch est le coq des vins »
« Koch’s Wine is the King of Wines » — the motto used abroad
« Of all the celebrated marks that carry the renown of the hillsides of the Marne far and wide, that of the House of Koch Fils — a rooster in full cry, standing proud upon a terrestrial globe rising from Champagne — is the best known in the world of gourmets », wrote the press of the day.
Protected as early as 1859, among the first registered marks of Champagne, it was sealed beneath the rooster at the greffe of Épernay (registry of the commercial court) in 1879.
VI · Today
The festivities have fallen silent; the vineyards have changed hands. The name endures — and, in the archives, the labels with their crowing rooster.
In January 2026, more than two centuries after Charles Koch settled in Avize, the trademark was filed by the founder’s direct descendants.
In Avize, the chalk waits.
ContactThe house sells no wine at present; any correspondence from the Côte des Blancs will find an attentive reader.