Appearance: A golden yellow colour, characteristic of the vintage. Bouquet: The extremely elegant, fine bouquet is dominated by the Chardonnay with aromas of white flowers, apricot and cinnamon, to which mineral and roasted-coffee notes are gradually added. Palate: The attack is frank and clean. The Pinot Noir brings complexity, structure, and maturity with spicy notes of cloves and licorice. Thanks to the low dosage, this cuvée conserves its freshness and exceptional lasting impression on the palate

ottles are matured over a period of more than two years, and are disgorged manually, dosed at low, extra-brut levels (in this case, four grams per litre) a minimum of six months before release.

The acidity is firmer here than the Meunier Blanc de Noirs (Vignes d'Autrefois), with a chewy austerity typical of limestone in Champagne. Regardless, it is fine and poised on the palate with impressive balance, racy freshness and fine chalk-infused bitters that drive a long, sapid finish—an outstanding Blanc de Noirs.

His wine is a study in minerality—the wine is rocky, vibrant, saline and vibrantly fresh. Creamy depths (from 30 months’ aging on lees) enfold the wine’s structural and mineral qualities and keep you coming back for more. In short, this is everything you would want from Grand Cru Côtes des Blancs, and represents a unique opportunity to taste Oiry’s distinctive, rocky terroir.

There is genuine depth and texture from the old vines and the clay of Les Chemins d’Épernay but this opulence is vibrantly balanced by crystalline freshness and a long, classy finish. A superb and unique Champagne that clearly speaks of its terroir. If you love great white Burgundy, then this has a similar set of textural and mineral qualities.

Grand Crus, especially Cramant and Chouilly are always dominant in this blend, but anyway, Cuis 1er cru is always essential to sign the fresh and delicate "Pierre Gimonnet & Fils' style". A great wine is a balanced wine between structure, fruit, elegance and finesse, freshness and minerality. The champagnes of Pierre Gimonnet & Fils are intricately assembled by masterful hands exclusively from enviably positioned and painstakingly tended old vines. Every cuvee sings its aspiration of 'precision, purity and minerality', each speaking articulately of its place in the northern Côte des Blancs through expressive, chalky minerality, without one molecule of detailout of place. With high-strung tension, crystalline structure and rapier-sharp precision, these are blanc de blancs champagnes charged with an energy that will sustain them long indeed. They represent some of the best-value apéritif champagnes of all. The Champagne Guide 2016-2017, Tyson Stelzer www.tysonstelzer.com