Franck Bonville "Grand Crú Rosé" Brut, Champagne, France NV

FROM ROSENTHAL

THE WINE: Bonville’s superbly balanced Rosé combines 90% Chardonnay from Avize with 10% Pinot Noir from the grand cru of Ambonnay. Vinified entirely in stainless steel, this release blends the 2020 and 2019 vintages, and it spent two years on its lees before being disgorged with a dosage of 6.7 grams per liter. Here, Avize Chardonnay’s distinctly powerful and salty nature is rounded and deepened by the presence of Ambonnay Pinot Noir—one of the greatest and most prized villages for the variety in the entire region.

THE PRODUCER: The Franck Bonville estate in Avize has been producing wine from their holdings in Avize, Oger, and Le Mesnil sur Oger for four generations, and today Olivier Bonville, along with his son-in-law Ferdinand Ruelle-Dudel, are guiding the 15-hectare domaine toward ever more precise and distinctive renderings of these terroirs.

The great terroirs of Champagne’s Côte des Blancs give birth to wines of well-deserved renown, and it is here—on the slopes of grand crus like Avize, Cramant, Le Mesnil sur Oger, and Oger—that Chardonnay (comprising 95% of the total vineyard area) achieves an unparalleled combination of finesse, power, and longevity. Of course, much of the fruit from these hallowed villages finds its way into the blends of the big houses, where their distinct characters are subsumed within the consistency-above-all nature of these massively scaled products. Thankfully, as in other subregions of Champagne, a growing number of vignerons are producing increasingly terroir-dominant wines, prioritizing the individuality of each cru and the variability of each growing season.

The Franck Bonville estate in Avize has been producing wine from their holdings in Avize, Oger, and Le Mesnil sur Oger for four generations, and today Olivier Bonville, along with his son-in-law Ferdinand Ruelle-Dudel, are guiding the 15-hectare domaine toward ever more precise and distinctive renderings of these terroirs. Currently certified Haute Valeur Environnementale, they have eschewed the use of chemical herbicides and pesticides for over a decade now, and they are currently converting their 77 assorted parcels to fully organic viticulture bit by bit.

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