2021 Dhondt-Grellet "Les Cotes au Vent" Blanc de Noirs 1er Cru, Extra Brut, Champagne, France
ABOUT THIS WINE
Dhondt-Grellet Les Côtes au Vent 2021 is a unique single-vineyard cuvée that boldly reinterprets the conventions of the Côte des Blancs. Originating from an eponymous plot located in Cuis, this Blanc de Meuniers (100% Pinot Meunier) expression reveals a rare and assertive identity.
Planted in 1954, this historic vineyard, resulting from massal selections, offers a unique interpretation of a terroir traditionally dedicated to Chardonnay. For the first time with this 2021 vintage, Adrien Dhondt has chosen to isolate this plot in order to reveal its full complexity and purity of expression.
The plot-by-plot vinification and the low-intervention approach allow us to preserve all the subtlety of this high-altitude Meunier.
ABOUT THIS PRODUCER
In 1986, Eric Dhondt and Edith Grellet decided to stop selling off grapes to negociants and started Dhondt-Grellet. Their focus on farming translated into honest Champagnes from great holdings across the Côte des Blancs. Their son, Adrien, now in his 20s, has taken over the winemaking and is quickly bringing his family's wines to another level. He has slowly increased the range of Champagnes produced by isolating their holdings across the villages of Cramant and Cuis and bottling pure expressions of Chardonnay.
The Dhondt family have worked with a perpetual reserve since they began estate bottling in 1986. After drawing off 30% of his reserves for the new year’s tirage, Adrien replenishes the loss with wine kept back from the new vintage and racks the resulting blend to barrel—accompanied by the fresh lees of the latest vintage—in May. Come harvest time, when empty barrels are needed, the perpetual reserve is returned to tank. Each year, the process is repeated, ensuring the domaine’s barrels are never empty.
Adrien uses organic & biodynamic practices but he is not seeking certification, preferring to work in the spirit of what he calls “peasant viticulture,” using no synthetic products, no herbicides or insecticides, enriching his soils with homemade compost and, as of Spring 2021, plowing each plot with his horse, Thor. His philosophy is to have a living soil with a healthy balance between microbial life and the vine. In the vines, there’s a lot of manual work: he prunes short and debuds severely to limit yields and produce ripe, concentrated fruit at harvest time. He often cites inspiration from great Burgundy estates by practicing plot selection.
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Description
ABOUT THIS WINE
Dhondt-Grellet Les Côtes au Vent 2021 is a unique single-vineyard cuvée that boldly reinterprets the conventions of the Côte des Blancs. Originating from an eponymous plot located in Cuis, this Blanc de Meuniers (100% Pinot Meunier) expression reveals a rare and assertive identity.
Planted in 1954, this historic vineyard, resulting from massal selections, offers a unique interpretation of a terroir traditionally dedicated to Chardonnay. For the first time with this 2021 vintage, Adrien Dhondt has chosen to isolate this plot in order to reveal its full complexity and purity of expression.
The plot-by-plot vinification and the low-intervention approach allow us to preserve all the subtlety of this high-altitude Meunier.
ABOUT THIS PRODUCER
In 1986, Eric Dhondt and Edith Grellet decided to stop selling off grapes to negociants and started Dhondt-Grellet. Their focus on farming translated into honest Champagnes from great holdings across the Côte des Blancs. Their son, Adrien, now in his 20s, has taken over the winemaking and is quickly bringing his family's wines to another level. He has slowly increased the range of Champagnes produced by isolating their holdings across the villages of Cramant and Cuis and bottling pure expressions of Chardonnay.
The Dhondt family have worked with a perpetual reserve since they began estate bottling in 1986. After drawing off 30% of his reserves for the new year’s tirage, Adrien replenishes the loss with wine kept back from the new vintage and racks the resulting blend to barrel—accompanied by the fresh lees of the latest vintage—in May. Come harvest time, when empty barrels are needed, the perpetual reserve is returned to tank. Each year, the process is repeated, ensuring the domaine’s barrels are never empty.
Adrien uses organic & biodynamic practices but he is not seeking certification, preferring to work in the spirit of what he calls “peasant viticulture,” using no synthetic products, no herbicides or insecticides, enriching his soils with homemade compost and, as of Spring 2021, plowing each plot with his horse, Thor. His philosophy is to have a living soil with a healthy balance between microbial life and the vine. In the vines, there’s a lot of manual work: he prunes short and debuds severely to limit yields and produce ripe, concentrated fruit at harvest time. He often cites inspiration from great Burgundy estates by practicing plot selection.
