Pierre Gimonnet Cramant Grand Cru Special Club 2016
- Vintage
- 2016
- Country
- France
- Region
- Champagne
- Size
- 750ml
- Grapes
- Chardonnay
- Rating
- WA94, JD94, Vinous93
Disgorged in summer 2024 with four grams per liter dosage, the 2016 Special Club Cramant Grand Cru hails from seven different lieux-dits. Described by Gimonnet as “nec plus ultra” among his standalone Special Club bottlings, this wine is another success. Wafting from the glass with a deep bouquet of jasmine, Asian pear, citrus fruit, and hazelnut, it’s layered and harmonious, and one can see why Gimonnet thinks the blend (from several plots within the village) is greater than the sum of its parts. Leaner and a tauter than the 2017 rendition, it’s precise and focused, concluding with a long, saline finish. It has every prerequisite to be another long-lived edition of this generally age-worthy cuvée. Drink:2024~2044 - WA94
"The 2016 Champagne Grand Cru Special Club Cramant Brut displays a slightly more direct nature in the glass, with more bright green apple fruit coming forward, followed by notes of light reduction, lime zest, and a lightly savory element of lime leaf as well. It's more powerful and austere on the palate, with driving intensity, a peppery mousse, and a clean, mouthwatering saltiness on the finish. It's going to benefit from another year or more in the cellar. Drink over the coming 15 or more years." - JD94
"The 2016 Extra Brut Spécial Club Cramant Grand Cru is airy and light on its feet. A Champagne of total understatement, this hovers over the palate with sublime finesse. This is 100% Chardonnay sourced from a blend of multiple old vine Grand Cru plots (some more than 100 years old). Crushed rocks, lemon peel, mint, white flowers, pear and tangerine oil all take shape. The Cramant is not an obvious or overt Champagne, but it is undeniably beautiful and alluring. Dosage is 4 grams per liter. Disgorged: November, 2022." Vinous93
Champagne Pierre Gimonnet & Fils is a well-regarded grower-producer in the predominantly Chardonnay-based Côte de Blancs subregion of Champagne, just south of the town of Épernay. The winery, established in 1935, has holdings in both Premier and Grand Cru villages, and is located in the Premier Cru village of Cuis. The Gimonnet family has been growing grapes here since 1750.
The house owns 28 hectares (69 acres) of vineyard land altogether, around half of which are in Cuis. This includes plots in premier cru sites in both Cuis and Marieul-sur-Aÿ, and in grand cru sites in Chouilly, Cramant, Oger, Vertus, and Aÿ.
Gimonnet's vineyards are almost exclusively planted to Chardonnay – only a fraction of the vineyards are planted to Pinot Noir in Aÿ and Marieul-sur-Aÿ.
Over 50 percent of Gimonnet's vines are over 35 years old – an anomaly in Champagne. The lieux-dits of Le Fond du Beteau and Buisson, located in the Grand Cru village of Cramant, are home to vines that are over 100 years old.
The company produces around 21,000 cases of Champagne annually. The portfolio is largely made up of vintage Blanc de Blancs Champagnes made from Chardonnay. The base wines are fermented in stainless steel and the wines generally receive low dosage to reflect the fresh house style.- Information from Wine Searcher