Champagne Odyssée 319 Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut Grand Cru Millésime 2017

The Bonvilles have taken quite the journey to make their way to a coveted spot as a top Champagne house. To the horror of his relatives and neighbors, founder Alfred Bonville risked the family’s meager fortune when he began buying plots of formerly pristine vineyard land after it had become devastated by phylloxera over a century ago. From the family base in Oger, he carefully managed their re-planting and upkeep – building a standing for quality grapes. Just as his venture was starting to pay dividends, he made another gamble. On the heels of The Great Depression, he purchased a winegrower’s house in the heart of Avize, complete with press, casks, and a cellar from the 1800s. His risk paid off again, and the foundations of the family as it stands today were cemented in that consequential decision.

Today, generations after Alfred’s wagers, Olivier Bonville and his son-in-law, Ferdinand Ruelle, are forging their own path. Though their day-job is running the Franck Bonneville house, a few years back, they started a new project with a rather ambitious model. Enter: Champagne Odyssée 319. Like Odysseus of old, Olivier and Ferdinand have set off on a journey through the many villages of the Champagne appellation. They started with their home plots in Avize and are on a quest to make wine from every other Champagne village in the years to come. Each year, they’ll make a home base Champagne from their Grand Cru vineyards in the Côte des Blancs, with a couple of experimental projects from various villages spread across Champagne.

This is an immaculate, 2017 vintage, 100% Chardonnay from their home plots in Avize with entrancing notes of oyster shells and crushed rocks. Bright notes of golden apples, orange cream, and Mirabelle plums carry the mid-palate, to be accented by ginger snaps, lemon verbena, and croissant dough on the vivacious and tingly finish. After 5 years on the lees, a gorgeously integrated Extra Brut dosage gives the wine a balanced yet intriguing interplay of ripe fruit flavors and zippy, crunchy minerality. I’d suggest you add at least a couple of these stunning wines to your collection with haste!