Joseph Ruscon celebrated his 98th birthday and the occasion was of course fêted with the opening a bottle of champagne dedicated to the man himself, Le Grand-Père, a bottle that holds a story, our story, that began many years ago.

Toward the end of the seventies Joseph frequented blind champagne tastings and it was at one of these that he tasted the champagne created by the Vallois family that was to become what HATT et SÖNER is today.

Yet, despite the friendship that grew between the two families of Ruscon and Vallois, never did Joseph imagine that some thirty years later his grandson would inextricably link them together by the love of his grandfather’s champagne of choice.

Over the next three years Kristofer nurtured that tiny seed to carefully spread its roots and become the foundation for what was to become HATT et SÖNER today.

Together Kristofer, his father, the Vallois family and their investors soon discovered that change was necessary in order to move beyond what once had been and thus the idea of creating a bold, innovative champagne house was born. From that moment the house has steadily grown with a strong and powerful mission to make a real difference, in Champagne itself and beyond.

The Vallois family had worked in viniculture for four generations and thus had a proud tradition behind them. But when Joseph’s son Michel received a phone call from Francois Vallois in 2006 Michel heard the sadness in his voice when Francois told him that his daughters did not wish to take over the vineyard.

In Champagne everything is about family and as a descendent from a family that had been in the wine trade for generations Michel easily understood Francois’s sadness at his daughters’ decision.

Yet from this heavy-hearted phone call a seed was planted and slowly began to grow in the young and visionary mind of Kristofer Ruscon, Michel’s eldest son and Joseph’s grandson.

Today HATT et SÖNER has taken many of the steps to follow along the path we set out on over a decade ago including the joyous change of heart by Céline Vallois, Francois’ daughter who studied at the school of viticulture and in 2022 she took the role as the head winemaker.

Together we look to the future with great anticipation and excitement while always staying true to the legacy of our past.

Francois-Marie Ruscon’s (b.1844) family moved from Italy to Annecy in the French Alps in 1825 where he eventually settled as a wine merchant.

Towards the end of the 19th century, the Ruscon family bought the local brewery in Annecy and thus became quite prominent within the community. Traces of this can still be seen in the town – the family name Ruscon is, for example, written on the first row of benches in the town church.

The bench next to it is marked with the name Agnellet, a family known for their production of hats in the early 20th century. Francois-Marie later married la fille Agnellet and the family was thus introduced to the millinery industry.

When deciding upon a new name for the house we had to take into consideration that the French government demands a surname or forename in the brand.

We chose HATT, which is the Swedish word for hat, bringing our story full-circle and paying homage to the family’s relationship to their millinery background. SÖNER is the Swedish word for sons, as we are three generations of family Ruscon and Vallois sons involved in the house, so far.