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Champagne Guiborat, Grand Cru Millésime

Other, France 2010 (750mL)
$90.00
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Fruit
Earth
Body
Tannin
Acid
Alcohol

Champagne Guiborat, Grand Cru Millésime

Looking back at our Champagne offers so far this year, as well as those that are upcoming, we think it’s safe to say this is the greatest stretch of sparklers we’ve ever offered. Not to say today’s fascinating 2010 Grand Cru is the culmination, but it certainly is a significant high point: This tiny 19th-century family estate walks amongst Champagne giants with the release of today’s bottle. If this isn’t a paragon of Grand Cru Côte des Blancs (100% Chardonnay), then we need to go back to the drawing board.
It explodes with mineral texture as if concocted with the very essence of Champagne’s chalky, marine fossil soils, and then continues with a whirlwind of electric fruits that pirouette across the palate. Guiborat has managed to carefully extract all this character due to five continuous generations of viticultural mastery and the brilliant combination of minimalist winemaking, judicious oak usage, and extra-long aging before release—roughly 80 months for this bottling. Quantities, as you should expect, are minimal: The family sells over half their crop to world-famous Champagne Houses, leaving them with just three hectares of vines for their own label. Today’s 2010 Grand Cru is one of those rare bottles. Don’t miss it!
Champagne Guiborat dates back to 1885, when they were farming a handful of parcels in the (now Grand Cru) village of Cramant. Today, Richard Fouquet, the fifth-generation steward of the family estate, is currently in charge. He shares his vision with his grandmother, who is chugging along in her mid-’90s, whether it’s imparting wisdom in the cellar or enthusiastically chatting with guests. At Guiborat, Richard is on a mission to farm his vines with respect for nature—everything is done by hand and, come harvest, his selection process is mercilessly strict.

Guiborat’s 2010 millésime (vintage) bottling hails from two parcels within the southern portion of the Grand Cru village of Chouilly. After selecting fruit from their 40-year-old Chardonnay vines, the grapes were shuttled down the road to the winery, located near the edge of Cramant. The base wine fermented in both stainless steel and a small percentage of neutral barrels before it was bottled in the first quarter of 2011. Then, it was off to their subterranean chalk caves where it rested, untouched, until the end of 2017. It was topped off with an ‘extra-brut’ level of dosage, which equates to less than six grams of sugar per liter. The result is a Champagne that boasts unfathomable depths that are filled with intense concentration and terroir expression.

If you want to experience every angle and layer of this brilliant Champagne, consume it like you would a Grand Cru white Burgundy—break out the large stems and serve around 55 degrees. Like the very cellars this bottle originates from, Guiborat’s 2010 Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs is carved out of chalk and filled with beautiful notes of freshly sliced yellow apples, brioche, pineapple core, acacia, citrus blossoms, white peach, Meyer lemon, dried herbs...wow, there is so much happening here! It’s an explosively mineral bottle with heaping layers of piquant fruits that finish with plush flair. I won’t go as far as instructing a decant, but if you wanted to experiment then, by all means, open the cabinets up and let it flow! It’s brimming with immense chalk and crushed shell-tenacity that ebbs and flows with a roaring cascade of acidity and savory earth. Still, it ends with a supple embrace that can be felt well over a minute after taking your first sip. It’s by far the best bottle of Guiborat I’ve had the pleasure of tasting! Though you can match this with shellfish or pork—almost anything really—I recommend seeking out some gossamer-thin Ibérico ham and trading a sip for a slice until you’re content. Warning: It may take a while! 
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Country
France
Region
Other
Sub-Region
FranceCôte des Blancs / Grand Cru Chouilly
Soil
Chalk
Farming
Practicing Organic
Blend
Chardonnay 100%
Alcohol
12.0
OAK
Partial Neutral Barrel Fermentation
TEMP.
55
Glassware
Burgundy Stem
Drinking
Now-2030+
Decanting
Optional
Pairing
Ibérico Ham

France

Bourgogne

Beaujolais

Enjoying the greatest wines of Beaujolais starts, as it usually does, with the lay of the land. In Beaujolais, 10 localities have been given their own AOC (Appellation of Controlled Origin) designation. They are: Saint Amour; Juliénas; Chénas; Moulin-à Vent; Fleurie; Chiroubles; Morgon; Régnié; Côte de Brouilly; and Brouilly.

Southwestern France

Bordeaux

Bordeaux surrounds two rivers, the Dordogne and Garonne, which intersect north of the city of Bordeaux to form the Gironde Estuary, which empties into the Atlantic Ocean. The region is at the 45th parallel (California’s Napa Valley is at the38th), with a mild, Atlantic-influenced climate enabling the maturation of late-ripening varieties.

Central France

Loire Valley

The Loire is France’s longest river (634 miles), originating in the southerly Cévennes Mountains, flowing north towards Paris, then curving westward and emptying into the Atlantic Ocean near Nantes. The Loire and its tributaries cover a huge swath of central France, with most of the wine appellations on an east-west stretch at47 degrees north (the same latitude as Burgundy).

Northeastern France

Alsace

Alsace, in Northeastern France, is one of the most geologically diverse wine regions in the world, with vineyards running from the foothills of theVosges Mountains down to the Rhine River Valley below.

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