Marc Champenois is the spirit chocolatiers have always known as Marc de Champagne: the same eau-de-vie, distilled from the same Champagne grape pressings, now sold under its registered geographical indication. The liquid in the bottle has not changed, and neither has what it does for a truffle.

Distilled by Jean Goyard and bottled at 60% vol, our concentrated Marc Champenois is clear and colourless, so it flavours a white chocolate ganache without tinting it. The strength is the point: compared with a standard 40% spirit you need less liquid for the same flavour, which keeps your ganache firm - and because water is the enemy of shelf life, less liquid means your bonbons last longer. We stock it in three sizes: a 250ml bottle for trials and small batches, the 1l bottle - our most popular size - and a 5l jerrican for production runs.

What Is Marc Champenois? 

After the Champagne harvest, the pressed grape skins - the marc - are fermented and distilled into a clear eau-de-vie, France's counterpart to Italian grappa. "Marc Champenois", or eau-de-vie de marc champenois, is the geographical indication that protects this spirit, approved in 2022, and producers have since moved to the new name - which is why the Goyard label now says Marc Champenois where it used to say Marc de Champagne. Same distillery, same spirit, new legal name, and still the flavour behind the classic champagne truffle.

How to Use Marc Champenois 

A little goes a long way at this strength. Our Working with Culinary Alcohols guide covers the dosing in detail: around 1.2% of your total recipe extends shelf life without the need to label the product as containing alcohol, while at around 3% the character of the spirit comes through clearly. It carries no sugar, so there is no need to rebalance the sweetness of an existing recipe. Stir it into a ganache for truffles and moulded bonbons, or, for a piped filling with more structure, whip it into a gel with Ultratex the way our Zephyr Caramel and Champagne Hearts recipe does.

Pairings and Ideas 

Strawberry is the classic partner, and the spirit works in dark, milk and white chocolate alike. A few ideas to try:

• Dark Champenois truffles - our recipe fills dark chocolate truffle shells and finishes them in cocoa powder
• Strawberry and Marc Champenois ganache in hollow chocolate hearts for Valentine's Day
• Zephyr caramel and champagne heart chocolates, with the marc whipped into a gel
• White chocolate and Marc Champenois truffles rolled in pink truffle powder
• Mango bellini bonbons - it plays the fizz in our summery chocolate recipe
• Dried fruit and fruitcake centres, where it lifts caramelised flavours