Created in 1947 'The Pearl of Gimonnnet' by Pierre Gimonnet is a Blanc de Blancs bottled with less sugar and yeast to produce a finished champagne at lower pressure around "4 atmospheres" compared to a typical 6 atmospheres of pressure. This creates smaller bubbles which in turn form a softer texture or mouthfeel - Gastronome 2014 is a superb aperitif champagne or great with those lighter seafood dishes. Historically created for the restaurants for 'by the glass' to accompany a meal.

Didier Gimonnet says Gastronome 2014 is a "Champagne of a feast. We bite into a juicy fruit with a refreshing texture"
The Brut Gastronome is vinified from grapes lower in sugar and the lower pressure creating those smaller bubbles make it a less intrusive sparkling wine to accompany food. Because Champagne Gimonnet aims to have some of the complexity of a vintage Champagne, while maintaining the fresh vitality of a young NV, it works particularly well with seafood.

Weather: 2014 was characterised by mild temperatures and frequent rainfall and a few weeks of high temperatures. On paper it looks like a very solid vintage with good ripeness and acidity. Full flowering began in June. Summer was a combination of dry, wet and cold spells. Some regions saw some disease and Meunier in the Marne Valley didn’t have a great year and some of the Pinot Noir with its thinner skin made it more difficult for the red grapes. Harvest took place from 8th to 20th September. A year where there was a need to do a lot of careful picking and sorting of the red grapes to maintain the high quality. In general Chardonnay is the star of the vintage with some super good Blanc de Blancs starting to appear on the market. There will be some good champagnes from 2014 and exceptional Blanc de Blancs.

Technical Information:
Vineyards: Cote des Blancs - 74% Grand Cru & 26% Premier Cru - 28% Chouilly, 18% Cramant, 10.5% Oger, 34.5% Cuis, 9.5% Vertus
Grape Varieties: 100% Chardonnay
Ageing: 3 years on the lees
Disgorged: August 2019
Dosage: 5 g/l
Pressure: 4.5 bars
Drink: Now to 2026
Annual Production: 28543 bottles

Tasting Note: Beautifully pure, floral nose. On the palate a racy, energetic feel with nuances of stone fruit, acacia, brioche and underlying minerality. Lovely purity, which has a long, crisp, slightly nutty finish. Exemplary Blanc de Blancs and great apéritif style. White flowers and crisp apple join chorus making this supremely refreshing as well as exceedingly moreish.

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 Côte 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 Côte des Blancs. The one geographical limit they have set is the bounds of the Côte 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. Today they produce 250,000 bottles.