This Grand Cru Vintage Champagne is the purest definition of a happy accident… Champagne Franck Bonville intended to create a vintage Blanc de Blancs of their best lots spanning the entirety of the Côte des Blancs. Yet, it just so happened that all of those top lots in 2015 were from their homebase in Avize! Delightful story, delightful wine, delightful price… what’s not to love?

Olivier Bonville is the latest Bonville to serve at the top of this great house, with familial ties to the great chardonnay vineyards of Champagne that go back to the late 1800s. In addition to his work with his stepson, Ferdinand Ruelle, on the Odyssee 319 project, his day-to-day role is CEO and master winemaker for Franck Bonville. This estate is in the heart of the Côte des Blancs, in the Grand Cru village of Avize, with all of their chardonnay hailing from three Grand Cru communes: Avize, Oger, and Le Mesnil-sur-Oger. 

This 2015 vintage Grand Cru bottling is all chardonnay, and as mentioned before… all from their home plots in Avize for this vintage. Following the harvest, primary and secondary fermentations occur in stainless steel tanks, before blending and bottling to age on the lees for a full six and a half years in their centuries-old, hand-carved chalk cellar. Disgorged in May of ‘22, this wine is finished with a Brut level dosage of 6.7 grams/liter and then held for an additional year before release. 

It opens with bold and toasty aromas… red apples, ripe pear, lemon biscuits. Rich and full in the mouth, with an autolytic style and hearty profile of toasted almonds, brioche, and apple hand pies, accented with nutmeg, cinnamon, and buttered croissants. There’s a persistent vein of green apple acidity that keeps things fresh and poised, with a pleasing almond skin bitterness at the very end. Deep and concentrated throughout – this is a powerful, thought-provoking bubbly that is not shy about its presence. Lots of fun, in the end, and sure to make a splash with your guests at nearly any gathering! We’re thrilled to have this beauty at the best price in the country!