Champagne Paul Déthune Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut Millesime Grand Cru 2016 Rare Ambonnay Blanc de Blancs Champagne!
Flavor Profile: Mandarin blossoms, roses, star jasmine, apples, pistachio, licorice, fresh cut grass, Chinese five spice, roasted almonds, raspberries, pear, and peach
Time on Lees: 84 months
Disgorgement Date: February 2023
Dosage: 5 grams per liter
Farming Method: Certified HVE and Certified Sustainable
Why we love it...
From top to bottom, the Déthune family just might have one of the best portfolios of any grower-producer in all of Champagne. Myriad blends, non-vintage, vintage, and site-specific Champagnes – and all deliciously delectable. This extremely limited production of a rare 2016 Ambonnay Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru is an absolute treat and not to be missed!
Pierre Déthune is the latest in a long line of vintners going all the way back to 1610. Like each of his forebears, Pierre has created his own style of Champagne – rooted in tradition, yet ever-evolving – the one constant being the rolling grasslands of Ambonnay. Faithful to the house's traditional methods, the Blanc de Blancs Millésime Grand Cru 2016 is aged and vinified in 205-liter oak barrels before bottling and aging on the lees for seven years. Over the past few years, the Déthune portfolio has gradually lowered the total dosage – transitioning the majority of their wines to Extra Brut or below (even when labeled as Brut). This wine has a dosage of 5 g/liter added back in February of last year, and 12 months later is really strutting beautifully. Our favorite part? We took it all! No one else has this beauty in the entire country – just so incredibly rare and delicious.
The shift to lower dosages has produced an enhanced freshness and verve to the finished wines without sacrificing the purely ripe fruit orchard characteristics that are definitively Ambonnay. For a straight chardonnay cuvée, this wine has an almost pinot noir-esque vinosity, with floral notes of mandarin blossoms, roses, and star jasmine, plus apple orchard, pistachio, licorice, and fresh-cut grass. The flavors turn decidedly spicy and rich on the weighty and luscious palate as notes of Chinese five spice, roasted almonds, raspberries, pear, and peach come out, all framed with a persistent chalkiness and saline minerality.
As the second-oldest Champagne family in Ambonnay, with an unbroken history of growing grapes in the region going back to the 1600s, the Déthune’s stewardship of their plots in the Grand Cru village of Ambonnay is paramount. The vineyard practices natural and organic techniques such as integrated pest management, solar power, and a complete lack of chemical use in the vineyard. With Ambonnay set as arguably the center point of the grower Champagne movement, the Déthunes have set an example – positioning a benchmark that all others should strive to achieve. Pedigreed perfection in this bottle, but soooo incredibly limited…only about 10 cases total to be had!
Technical Details
Country: France
Region: Champagne
Appellation: Montagne de Reims
Varietal: Chardonnay
Winemaker: Pierre Déthune
Farming Method: Certified HVE and Certified Sustainable
Oak: 100 % Barrel Fermented
Alcohol: 12.5%
Pair it with: Red Snapper with braised endives and orange
Fizz Meter
About the Producer
Pierre Déthune learned to walk in the vineyards alongside his father Paul, who came from a long line of vintners that goes back to 1610. Like his great-grandfather Léon, his grandfather Henri and his father Paul, Pierre is tracing his own path… in the heart of the grassy wine country of Ambonnay. They do the demanding job of Grower-Producers, following a stringent sustainable development approach.
As regards the line that came before them and the one that extends ahead, the couple considers themselves to be a generational relay of a timeless heritage. With quality and respect for people and the environment, they produce a range of seven champagnes that are 100% Grand Cru.
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