Description / Reviews
"This cuvée is now produced exclusively from Grand Cru Chardonnay from Cramant, primarily from the lieu-dit La Garenne, a historic garden site with slightly sandier, clay-influenced soils that bring added breadth while preserving Cramant’s signature chalky finesse and salinity. Formerly blended with Chouilly fruit, Adrien has refined the wine to focus solely on Cramant for greater precision and terroir expression. Vinified and aged in oak with full malolactic fermentation and extended lees aging, it is an elegant, structured Champagne with layered texture and a saline finish." - Grand Cru Selections, Importer
"From two plots in a lesser-known part of the great grand cru village of Cramant, behind the village facing slightly north towards Cuis, Adrien Dhondt crafts a heady, deep blanc de blancs all the more remarkable for being based on the cool 2021 vintage (with one third perpetual reserve added). It's a little more vinous, peppery and grippy than the other two non-vintage cuvées tasted alongside, with notes of apple tart, stewed apricot and powdered ginger meeting a real sense of fruit concentration and texture before a driving finish. Brown bread richness and light structuring from oak vinification emphasise the seriousness of the style here; this striking blanc de blancs needs a little more time to unfurl than either Roc Solare or Terres Fines, but will reward the wait. (Drink between 2025-2032)" - 94 Points, Tom Hewson, Decanter (2021 Base)
"The NV Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs Cramant Grand Cru is based on the 2019 vintage, harvested from 50-year-old vines, with a 30% addition of a perpetual reserve dating back to 1986. This is from two plots: La Garennes on richer soils that used to be market gardens, and Les Longes Verges with less topsoil, infected by fanleaf virus which results in small, concentrated grapes. The nose has fresh apple notes and the merest touch of crumbled chicken stock cube. The palate is beautifully taut, notwithstanding the ripeness Dhondt aims for, and a cut-through saltiness with a pure, bright lemon freshness. Slight phenolics on the finish add structure. Dosage is 1gr/L. Disgorged: October, 2022. - Anne Krebiehl MW (Drink between 2023-2035)" - 94 Points, Antonio Galloni, Vinous (2019 Base)
