Glorious Chardonnay from a dynamic and promising vintage and thus very capable as a non dosé, extra brut, this ŒNOPHILE may be labeled 1er Cru but this is perennially 80% and more Grand Cru -an admixture of Chouilly, Cramant, Cuis, and Oger. Finishing off at a mere 1.5g/l rs, this penetrating Blanc des Blancs is just right by nature with ample ripe Asian pear lending an exotic fragrance to complement a baked ginger spice, and rye tangerine -with great depth for a vintage debutante leading off into this world in its first blush -into a world with a growing suspicion of non dosé after years en vogue. Its star rose among the great restaurants for its clear taste of goût de terroir -after all: without dosage there's nothing to hide behind (!) but despite what we read repeated in the press when the sommeliers speak in private paroles the consensus I hear is that this category's pendulum is on its return swing after some lean years left us wanting. Gimonnet's ŒNOPHILE however proves how balanced years marrying beautifully ripened fruit with racy minerality can not only pull it off but are all the better non dosé! This is a treat and I look forward to tasting this over the next decade to see it come of age and wow us all into certainty that non dosé Champagne in the right year and right hands can age gloriously.
Glorious Chardonnay from a dynamic and promising vintage and thus very capable as a non dosé, extra brut, this ŒNOPHILE may be labeled 1er Cru but this is perennially 80% and more Grand Cru -an admixture of Chouilly, Cramant, Cuis, and Oger. Finishing off at a mere 1.5g/l rs, this penetrating Blanc des Blancs is just right by nature with ample ripe Asian pear lending an exotic fragrance to complement a baked ginger spice, and rye tangerine -with great depth for a vintage debutante leading off into this world in its first blush -into a world with a growing suspicion of non dosé after years en vogue. Its star rose among the great restaurants for its clear taste of goût de terroir -after all: without dosage there's nothing to hide behind (!) but despite what we read repeated in the press when the sommeliers speak in private paroles the consensus I hear is that this category's pendulum is on its return swing after some lean years left us wanting. Gimonnet's ŒNOPHILE however proves how balanced years marrying beautifully ripened fruit with racy minerality can not only pull it off but are all the better non dosé! This is a treat and I look forward to tasting this over the next decade to see it come of age and wow us all into certainty that non dosé Champagne in the right year and right hands can age gloriously.
Nov 20th, 2015
Champagne, France
