UNISSON

Blanc de Blancs Brut Grand Cru Champagne Franck Bonville NV

IN STOCK
Grapes Chardonnay
Colour White
Origin France, Champagne
Classification Grand Cru
ABV 12.5%

100% Chardonnay from Avize and Oger. Stainless steel and 100% malo. 4.5 years sur lattes. Dosage 6.2 g/l. Lemon pie, apple pie. But then marvellous acidity. Like a thousand tiny, tiny cuboids in the mouth. Baked apple, golden fresh apple skin, touch of papaya and papaya seed, crunchy pear. There is both complexity and charm in this full-bodied but well-defined wine, finishing on a note of floral spice Drinking range: 2023 - 2028 Rating: 17 Tamlyn Currin - www.JancisRobinson.com (Jun 2023)

*Case price discount: Mix any 12 bottles of wine (or 9 litre equivalent) or 6 bottles of Champagne, Spirits, Sweet Wine or Fortified (4.5 litres) to get the discounted 'case price' for each bottle.

Unisson - a name intended to convey a bringing-together of the estate's best parcels of old vines, of the vintage wines brought together in the blend, of the freshness of its Côte des Blancs chalky origins combined with the generosity of the development of the wine on the lees in the ageing process. It's a sophisticated wine which in some ways best represents the Bonville style. Quite a deep yellow-gold, and much richer than the 'Blanc de Blancs' although it is also all Chardonnay, of course. All in energy and purity despite its generosity, and this is emphasised on the long saline finish.L&S (May 2022)

The NV Brut Blanc de Blancs Unisson Grand Cru is a pure Chardonnay from Avize, blended from the 2016 and 2017 vintages. A most subtle nose allows glimpses of dried corn husk but stays subdued, because it all happens on the beautifully chalky palate. Depth becomes apparent with the first sip of this slender, taut, bright and lithe Champagne that delves and drives deep into chalk, adding slight yeasty autolysis and really fine mousse. Everything about this forsakes overtness in favor of depth, beautifully elegant with alluring, salty, chalky depth. Lovely. Dosage is 6.7gr/L. Disgorged: March, 2023. Drinking range: 2023 - 2035 Rating: 93 Anne Krebiehl MW, Vinous.com (Dec 2023)

Champagne Franck Bonville

Domaine Franck Bonville has around 15 hectares of vines in 77 parcels of vines spread across three Grand Cru Côte des Blancs villages, Avize (9ha), Oger (4.5ha) and Le Mesnil-sur-Oger (.5ha). Already certified Haute Valeur Environmentale, the vineyards are gradually being converted to fully organic viticulture.

The origins of the domaine go back to Alfred Bonville, who from around 1900 bought up parcels of land in the years following phylloxera, always within reach by horse of his home in Oger. Despite the wars he continued to invest after the birth of his son Franck, and in 1937 they bought a house in Avize complete with press and barrel cellar. From the end of the war, Franck began to sell Champagnes under his own name.

Franck's son Gilles and his wife Ingrid continued the work, replacing the old casks with stainless steel for a more precise vinification. Their son Olivier trained as an oenologist and joined the domaine in 1996 after working in Germany and Corsica. Olivier has focused his attention on sustainable viticulture and purity of expression, so that the wines offer 'the aromatic complexity and elegance of Chardonnay', as well as 'the authenticity of the Cote des Blancs terroir and the minerality of the chalky sub-soil'. All the wines go through malolactic fermentation, and apart from the barrel-aged Belles Voyes cuvée, all are made in stainless steel.

Now joined by his son-in-law, Ferdinand Ruelle-Dudel, Olivier is free to concentrate on the vineyards and wine-making, and this estate, which has been on an upward quality trajectory for some years, is rapidly becoming one of the reference points of the Côte des Blancs.

Critic's favourite grower Champagne mixed six

The wines in this case reflect the amazing nuance and individuality of ‘grower’ Champagne, as well as the astonishing quality that buying direct from the vigneron affords. Just don’t delay, as we have a limited quantity of cases and they won’t last.

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