In the small commune of Taissy, a Premier Cru village just a couple of miles southeast of the city of Reims and Champagne’s beating heart – you’ll find the small domaine of Champagne Gondé-Rousseaux. Édith Rousseaux and Didier Gondé, parents of the current winemaker, Florian Gondé, founded the estate in 1976, with a little less than 4 hectares of vineyards planted to a mix of Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier, and Pinot Noir.

Their focus has always been on single-vineyard micro-productions, and they’ve chosen to farm their plots organically and biodynamically to extract the most complexity and energy from their small farm. They use very little sulfur in the production process and avoid any non-natural additions or treatment whenever possible. Attention to detail is what they rely on to make clean, vibrant, and singularly expressive wines – and based on what we’ve tasted so far, this is done quite well, indeed.

This cuvee is based on the 2017 vintage, with 100% Chardonnay grapes taken from a single plot in Taissy. Small lots of grapes are pressed separately, with a natural settling and fermentation to follow in American oak barrels at room temperature. The vin clair sees a careful aging of eight months on the gross lees to build texture and roundness. From there, bottling commences with aging on the lees in bottle for five years prior to disgorgement in 2022.

After more than three years on the cork, this delicate wine offers dainty aromatics of rose water, crunchy apricot, and fresh buttermilk that endlessly entice. The palate is loaded with impeccable freshness and class, giving a fullness of flavors ranging from frangipane to bay laurel and green apple. Vibrant acidity keeps this humming, and a spiced note develops on the long and seamless finish. This is really quite delectable stuff – a perfect showcase of complexity, depth, and harmony that could easily compete in the $250+ Champagne range. We secured as much as we could – but there is hardly enough to go around, and I’m afraid it won’t be enough to survive for long! Get a handful, as a single bottle of this utterly charming bubbly simply won’t do!