Champagne Dhondt Grellet, Les Terres Fines, Blanc de Blancs, 1er Cru, Extra Brut (Base 2019)
Critics reviews
Wafting from the glass with aromas of honeyed orchard fruits, freshly baked bread and frangipane, Dhondt's NV Extra-Brut Blanc de Blancs Premier Cru Les Terres Fines (2019) is medium to full-bodied, ample and fleshy, with a satiny attack and a deep, seamless mid-palate that's girdled by racy acids. Penetrating and precise, it's already beautifully integrated only shortly after disgorgement.
Drink 2023 - 2036
William Kelley, Wine Advocate (August 2022)
1.5 grams per litre dosage and disgorged March 2022.
Made from 70% 2019 and 30% reserve perpetuelle, the golden straw-coloured NV Champagne Blanc De Blancs Les Terres Fines Extra Brut is savoury and toasty with aromas of incense, Mirabelle plum, overripe Meyer lemon, and saline. Persistent from the get-go, with an expansive mousse, it’s a powerful wine with a ripe core of citrus oils, savoury salinity, and driving mineral texture that’s broad on the palate. It has a light, almost natural feel in terms of its profile, but it’s clean. It demands a bit more time in bottle before drinking.
Drink 2025 - 2035
Audrey Frick, JebDunnuck.com (November 2023)
About this WINE
Champagne Dhondt Grellet
Champagne Dhondt-Grellet is a small, family-owned producer in the Côte des Blancs region of Champagne, France. The Côte des Blancs is renowned for its Chardonnay vineyards, and many producers in this area, including Dhondt-Grellet, often focus on producing Blanc de Blancs Champagne, made exclusively from Chardonnay grapes.
Dhondt-Grellet emphasises traditional and meticulous production methods. This includes hand-harvesting grapes, using conventional pressing techniques, and extended ageing on the lees to develop complex flavours.
Blanc de Blancs
In Champagne, the term Blanc de Blancs designates Champagnes made only from Chardonnay grapes. The vineyards located between Cramant and Mesnil-sur-Oger in Côte des Blancs yield the best examples of the style.
A classic Blanc de Blancs is restrained and elegant when young, yet with ageing it develops a mouth-coating brioche richness that overlays an intense expression of fruitiness. Blanc de Blancs are endowed with longer ageing potential than a typical Blanc de Noirs.
Recommended Producers: Salon, Billecart Salmon, Jacques Selosse, Dom Ruinart, Krug, Le Mesnil Grand Cru, Guy Larmandier
Chardonnay
Chardonnay is often seen as the king of white wine grapes and one of the most widely planted in the world It is suited to a wide variety of soils, though it excels in soils with a high limestone content as found in Champagne, Chablis, and the Côte D`Or.
Burgundy is Chardonnay's spiritual home and the best White Burgundies are dry, rich, honeyed wines with marvellous poise, elegance and balance. They are unquestionably the finest dry white wines in the world. Chardonnay plays a crucial role in the Champagne blend, providing structure and finesse, and is the sole grape in Blanc de Blancs.
It is quantitatively important in California and Australia, is widely planted in Chile and South Africa, and is the second most widely planted grape in New Zealand. In warm climates Chardonnay has a tendency to develop very high sugar levels during the final stages of ripening and this can occur at the expense of acidity. Late picking is a common problem and can result in blowsy and flabby wines that lack structure and definition.
Recently in the New World, we have seen a move towards more elegant, better- balanced and less oak-driven Chardonnays, and this is to be welcomed.
When is a wine ready to drink?
We provide drinking windows for all our wines. Alongside the drinking windows there is a bottle icon and a maturity stage. Bear in mind that the best time to drink a wine does also depend on your taste.
Not ready
These wines are very young. Whilst they're likely to have lots of intense flavours, their acidity or tannins may make them feel austere. Although it isn't "wrong" to drink these wines now, you are likely to miss out on a lot of complexity by not waiting for them to mature.
Ready - youthful
These wines are likely to have plenty of fruit flavours still and, for red wines, the tannins may well be quite noticeable. For those who prefer younger, fruitier wines, or if serving alongside a robust meal, these will be very enjoyable. If you choose to hold onto these wines, the fruit flavours will evolve into more savoury complexity.
Ready - at best
These wines are likely to have a beautiful balance of fruit, spice and savoury flavours. The acidity and tannins will have softened somewhat, and the wines will show plenty of complexity. For many, this is seen as the ideal time to drink and enjoy these wines. If you choose to hold onto these wines, they will become more savoury but not necessarily more complex.
Ready - mature
These wines are likely to have plenty of complexity, but the fruit flavours will have been almost completely replaced by savoury and spice notes. These wines may have a beautiful texture at this stage of maturity. There is lots to enjoy when drinking wines at this stage. Most of these wines will hold in this window for a few years, though at the very end of this drinking window, wines start to lose complexity and decline.
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Description
1.5 grams per litre dosage and disgorged March 2022.
Made from 70% 2019 and 30% reserve perpetuelle, the golden straw-coloured NV Champagne Blanc De Blancs Les Terres Fines Extra Brut is savoury and toasty with aromas of incense, Mirabelle plum, overripe Meyer lemon, and saline. Persistent from the get-go, with an expansive mousse, it’s a powerful wine with a ripe core of citrus oils, savoury salinity, and driving mineral texture that’s broad on the palate. It has a light, almost natural feel in terms of its profile, but it’s clean. It demands a bit more time in bottle before drinking.
Drink 2025 - 2035
Audrey Frick, JebDunnuck.com (November 2023)
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