Pierre Gimonnet & Fils Special Club Grand Cru 'Cramant' 2016

The Wine Advocate
RP 94
Reviewed by: Kristaps Karklins

Disgorged in summer 2024 with four grams per litre dosage, the 2016 Special Club Cramant Grand Cru comes from seven different lieux-dits. Described by Gimonnet as the “nec plus ultra” of its single Special Club bottlings, it's another success. Offering a deep bouquet of jasmine, Asian pear, citrus and hazelnut, it's layered and harmonious, and you can see why Gimonnet feels the blend (of several parcels within the village) is greater than the sum of its parts. Slimmer and tauter than the 2017, it's precise and focused, ending with a long, saline finish. It has all the prerequisites to be another long-lived edition of this generally age-worthy cuvée.

Pierre Gimonnet & Fils has a rich history, with formal activity starting in 1935. The estate covers 30.5 hectares, all in the Côte des Blancs, making it one of the largest récoltants-manipulants (growers who farm and bottle their own grapes). About half the vines are over 35 years old, and 80% of its grand cru parcels were planted more than 45 years ago, the oldest vineyards dating from 1911 and 1913.

The family estate, run by brothers Olivier and Didier Gimonnet since the early 1980s and joined by their sons Pierre-Guillaume and Arnaud in 2020, includes 15 hectares in Cuis premier cru and 13 hectares of grand cru vineyards, with key parcels in Cramant (where the vines average 65 years) and Chouilly, and the rest in Oger. Arnaud focuses on the vineyards, working to preserve the heritage of the old massal selection of Chardonnay.