Pierre Gimonnet et Fils Cuis 1er Cru NV

The Gimonnet house style is freshness and purity we are currently on vintage base year 2016 known as blend or assemblage 189. Each year, Pierre Gimonnet use all the wines they need to reproduce their House Style in their signature blend, Cuis 1er Cru. This classic Non-Vintage is about liveliness, lightness and finesse: all the purity of the Grands Chardonnay from the Côte des Blancs. Annual production is 129,000 bottles.

Technical Information:
Vineyards: Premier Cru - Cote des Blancs
Grape Varieties: 100% Chardonnay
Ageing: 3 years on the lees
Vintages in the blend: 70% - 2016, 5% - 2015, 10.5% - 2014, 5% - 2013, 9.5% - 2012
Disgorged: October 2019
Dosage: 6 g/l
Drink: Now to 2030

Tasting Note: Beautifully pure nose with a lemon and ripe apple richness. On the palate bring more of the ripe citrus notes with some yellow plum and hints of brioche and underlying minerality and a crisp dry finish . Great example of Blanc de Blancs from the Cote des Blancs in the apéritif style. Speaks of the character of Cuis the heart and soul of Gimonnet’s vineyard holdings.

The story of Champagne Gimonnet is, in fact, “Pierre Gimonnet et Fils... et PetitsFils”, as the grandsons of the founder, brothers Olivier and Didier Gimonnet are the custodians of this family House in the Côtes des Blancs. The Gimonnet family can be traced back to 1750 growing vines around the village of Cuis, south of Epernay, but it was between the wars that Pierre Gimonnet set up the winery that allowed him to become a grower-producer, specialising in Blanc de Blancs. Pierre Gimonnet was succeeded by his son Michel, whom his sons credit with a hard-working modesty but an obsession with quality of winemaking and a passion for the vines he spent his life walking and working between.

Olivier and Didier worked with their father for a decade until his retirement in 1996 (he died in 2008), and have continued, and improved on, his work for over 20 years.

Michel’s understanding of terroir led him to acquire parcels beyond Cuis and into neighbouring Cramant and Chouilly. His sons have continued this principle, expanding into Oger in 2005 and as far south as Vertus in 2008. The House now has 40 separate parcels across 28 hectares – 16ha of Premier Cru and 12ha of Grand Cru – all in the Côtes des Blancs. The one geographical limit they have set is the bounds of the Côtes des Blancs because it is determined to explore the variety of expressions of Chardonnay and achieve excellence in its different characteristics.

Didier and Olivier believe, as did their father, that Chardonnay vines improve with age, among the vines owned by Gimonnet are some in Cramant more than a century old, while over half are 40 years old or more. Massale selection is used to ensure the continuation of good genes when grafting and planting new parcels. At harvest time, grapes are handpicked, traditionally pressed and then vinified in small batches, parcel by parcel, in 25 to 125 hectalitre tanks to create the Gimonnet champagne.