GONET-MÉDEVILLE

2007 Grande Ruelle Extra Brut Grand Cru Ambonnay

Grapes Pinot Noir, Chardonnay
Colour White
Origin France, Champagne
Village Ambonnay
Classification Grand Cru
ABV 12.5%

100% Pinot Noir from a 0.2-ha parcel. Vinified in oak oak casks. Bottled seven months after harvest. More than five years sur lattes. Dosage 2 g/l. 1,000 bottles. Honey and honeycomb. Apricot jam on toast. A sweet bitterness that tastes like the smoke of a beeswax candle just snuffed and honeysuckle petals and regret. Orange-blossom syrup and pistachio, yuzu-peel oil and ylang ylang, frangipani and white raspberry. Bay leaves. Massive concentration and intricately carved but not overpowering. Really thrumming on the finish, like a long drumbeat. Drinking range: 2023 - 2035 Rating: 18 Tamlyn Currin - www.JancisRobinson.com (Jun 2023)


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The vines are grown on chalk soils across 0.2 ha in Ambonnay. The grapes are all hand-harvested, with average yields of 12,600kg/ha. The grapes are pressed, racked and vinified entirely in old casks. The wine was bottled seven months after harvest and has spent 5-6 years on lees. L&S (May 2023)

Champagne Gonet-Médeville

Xavier has twelve hectares in total, spread across eight villages. There are three Grands Crus, Le Mesnil sur Oger, Oger and Ambonnay, as well as five Premiers Crus, Mareuil sur Ay, Bisseuil (where he has a substantial 4.8 hectare plot), Billy Le Grand, Trépail and Vaudemange.

In 1996 Xavier met Julie Médeville (of the Bordeaux family which owns the Graves Château Respide Médeville and the Sauternes Château Gilette) at a tasting in Reims, and they married the following year. Xavier set out on a path to quality from the moment he was in charge in 2000, and is keen to emphasise what he does and does not do. "One press makes nine barrels - and it all goes into barrel, all divided according to the parcels it comes from.", he says, "no malo, no chaptalisation, no filtration, and the wines are left in barrel to stabilise. The red wines are properly red. The non-vintages are around 70-80% of the current year, with up to 30% reserves, normally just 20% of the previous year and 10% of the year before that."

Our first visit here was a joy, seeing the vineyard in Bisseuil, which is all in one block, on a sunny south-facing slope, which is perfect for achieving full ripeness. The tasting after so much anticipation is always an anxious moment on both sides, but the 'Tradition' does not let him down - indeed it sets the bar very high - simply delicious, and we both know that we are on the right track. The Rosé both surprises and delights because it is so different - almost all Chardonnay except the the red used for colour, it is a sprightly apéritif rosé. The micro-cuvées that make up the rest of the range are the stuff of future legend, rare, but worth seeking out.

"What made me want to make Champagne was wines from '29, '45, '55, '59, '61, '64 - I want to make wines like that", says Xavier. You need have no fear of cellaring these wines to see how they evolve, however delicious they are now.

This wine isn't currently part of a mixed case, but you can always browse our full selection of mixed cases here.
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