'I wake up at six. I don't like to rush. I like to have a slow breakfast and read the newspaper. It takes me an hour and a half to leave the house. I used to be a coffee addict in my days as a medical student. I quit and I feel fabulous. Coffee is great. I think the greatest coffees are like wine, but they're so addictive.
I travel four to five weeks a year between April and July. From August to April, I do no travelling at all - it's all about wine-making.
I try to be at work no later than 8am. I usually work from 8am to 8pm, with a half-hour break in the middle. For lunch I have a quick meal at the winery, perhaps a sandwich. During the workday, meals are not important to me.
My schedule is cyclical. It's all relative to the seasons. People think of Dom Perignon as an iconic representation of luxury in wines but tend to forget it all starts with mother nature, and I get closest to her during the grape harvest. I was born and raised in Champenois; seven generations of grape growers and wine makers.
At the beginning of harvest time, you will see many people testing berry by berry, across the fields. Picking is a major criterion in achieving excellence in champagne. If you get it wrong in the first place, you cannot make up for it. It can begin as early as the end of August; traditionally it's around September 10.
I walk through the various plots, looking and sampling here and there to get the right feel. It takes about three weeks of this testing and discerning for readiness before we start picking.