This is more than Grand Cru Champagne: It’s a wine endowed with fathoms-deep wisdom, a Pinot Noir that explores an entirely new dimension of profundity, and a sensory experience that delivers meditative shockwaves. And while its sublime vinosity and spectacular poise is stunning to a nearly preposterous degree, I can’t say Gonet-Médeville’s 14-year-old, single-vineyard powerhouse caught me by surprise. After all, this bottle originates from one of the most revered Grand Cru Pinot Noir hillsides not only in Champagne but the world.
The 900-person village of Ambonnay is famed for producing a Dean’s List of Champagne’s finest Pinot Noir-driven wines: Egly-Ouriet’s powerful vintage bottlings ($200+); Selosse’s brilliant “Le Bout de Clos” ($400); and of course, Krug’s singular “Clos d’Ambonnay” ($2,500+). While I could certainly go on, there’s no need because just a few minutes’ walk from Krug’s legendary site sits Gonet-Médeville’s half-acre slice of vines in Grand Cru “La Grande Ruelle.” From this, they painstakingly handpick a small parcel of Pinot Noir, slowly barrel ferment it over seven months, and then cellar it in bottle for 11 years in their caves. Following, this pitifully small 60-bottle batch was disgorged and kept in the cellar for an additional two years before landing in America just three weeks ago. Seriously! The results are, in a number of words, stupendous, vinous, complex, sublime. Savor it over an entire evening in your largest Burgundy stems and you’ll be gifted one of the most majestic, deeply mineral, and rarest Grand Cru Pinot Noir experiences imaginable. Free Ground Shipping on two bottles, limit three per person.
Xavier and Julie Gonet-Médeville are a power couple in the world of French wine: They are owners of today’s boutique Champagne estate; the inimitable Château Gilette in Sauternes (each vintage is held at least 15 years before release); and the well-situated Château des Eyrins in Margaux, among others. Both worked under the direction of Julie’s parents for eight years until venturing out on their own, but it was Xavier’s side of the family who had stakes in Champagne. When his family’s parcels were being divvied up at the turn of the century, he opted for quality over quantity. As a result, you’ll only find Premier Cru and Grand Cru vines at Gonet-Médeville—aside from Krug, they are the only other estate that has holdings in Grand Crus Ambonnay and Le Mesnil-Sur-Oger! With ownership in what seems like every shade and style of wine (sparkling, white, red, sweet), and families with extensive chronicles in Champagne and Bordeaux, they’ve quickly created a name for themselves. Their focus on small-production, conscientiously-crafted wines are among the best of any “newcomer.”
Though they only own .2 hectares (about a half-acre) in “La Grande Ruelle”—a renowned vineyard in the Grand Cru village of Ambonnay—the small amount of wine they do produce from here is among the finest in the village. They farm their few rows of vines with organic principles and, in 2006, they harvested their tiny crop of Grand Cru Pinot Noir and shuttled it over to their winery in nearby Bisseuil (just east of Epernay). The grapes fermented and aged for seven months in old French barrels and the resulting wine was then transferred into bottle where it aged on its lees for a whopping 11 years. Our small parcel was then disgorged in July of 2018 and dosed with an extremely light dosage of two grams per liter. Following, Gonet-Médeville held onto it in their cellar for well over two more years before sending this stateside just weeks ago!
Now, you can go about your routine of pouring into wide-mouthed tulips around 45-50 degrees, but I found this delivered the greatest levels of enjoyment after pouring into large Burgundy stems and allowing many of the bubbles to dissipate. Remember: Champagne is a wine, not (just) a luxury carbonated beverage, and the greatest examples will shine bright with or without effervescence—this is Grand Cru Pinot Noir from world-famous Ambonnay, after all! In the glass, the wine reveals a remarkably deep golden-yellow core with copper and silver hues flitting throughout. As oxygen started doing its job, the wine begins unfolding all of its extremely sublime and powerfully seductive layers of dried plum, blackcurrant, toasted hazelnut, acacia honey, Rainier cherry, caramel, crushed rock, damp herbs, red apple, and bruised Bosc pear. The palate is approaching full-bodied and displays a beautiful array of mellowing orchard fruit and pulverized minerality that blends seamlessly into each broad-sweeping layer, and there are many! For those who want to experience the full spectrum of evolving Pinot Noir from one of the world’s finest sites, this is a tremendous, and tremendously rare feat. It’s also your one and only chance—missing it now means missing it for good. Enjoy now and over the next 3-5 years.
