The Dhont-Grellet Champagnes first came up on our radar when Adrien Dhont was voted Winemaker of the Year in 2017 at the prestigious Trophées Champenois competition sponsored by Bulles & Millésime Magazine. Grellet is a leader of the young, upcoming corps of Champagne winegrowers, who showcase their terroir through the diligent application of Burgundian and natural winemaking practices.
WINE ADVOCATE 91 POINTS - "The NV Extra-Brut Dans un Premier Temps (2017) continues to show very well, bursting with aromas of sweet orchard fruit, white flowers, fresh bread and hints of toasted nuts and dried fruits. Medium to full-bodied, ample and elegantly textural, with lively acids and a pinpoint mousse, it concludes with a saline finish."
This bottle was disgorged in November 2020 with three grams per liter dosage. The blend is 50% Chardonnay from Sezanne, 30% Pinot Noir from Avenay Val d'Or and 20% old vine Pinot Meunier from Cuis. The base vintage makes up 70% of the blend with the remainder a perpetual reserve going back to 1986. "
William Kelly's Background Notes - "This visit with Adrien Dhondt was among the most exciting of my time in Champagne this spring. Dhondt-Grellet was formed by the marriage of Adrien's parents in 1986: the Dhondts were Belgian farmers in origin, and it was Adrien's grandfather that purchased vines in the Sézannais in the 1960s; whereas the Grellets hail from Cuis and Cramant in the Côte de Blancs. Beginning with a mere two hectares, today the domaine has tripled in size. Adrien has been making the wines since 2012. An autodidact whose methods are more informed by his own experiments and the experience of his friends in Burgundy and Champagne, he believes in living soils, grapes harvested at full maturity, élevage in wood and low dosage. Some blends are informed by the presence of older wines taken from a perpetual reserve established in 1986 on the domaine's inception. This approach yields complex, vinous wines that display considerable texture and power, though not at the expense of all the chalky refinement one expects from villages such as these. Dhondt has certainly hit the ground running, and I'm excited to follow his evolution as a winemaker over the decades to come. Everything reviewed here comes warmly recommended.(09/2021)"
WINE ADVOCATE 91 POINTS - "The NV Extra-Brut Dans un Premier Temps (2017) continues to show very well, bursting with aromas of sweet orchard fruit, white flowers, fresh bread and hints of toasted nuts and dried fruits. Medium to full-bodied, ample and elegantly textural, with lively acids and a pinpoint mousse, it concludes with a saline finish."
This bottle was disgorged in November 2020 with three grams per liter dosage. The blend is 50% Chardonnay from Sezanne, 30% Pinot Noir from Avenay Val d'Or and 20% old vine Pinot Meunier from Cuis. The base vintage makes up 70% of the blend with the remainder a perpetual reserve going back to 1986. "
William Kelly's Background Notes - "This visit with Adrien Dhondt was among the most exciting of my time in Champagne this spring. Dhondt-Grellet was formed by the marriage of Adrien's parents in 1986: the Dhondts were Belgian farmers in origin, and it was Adrien's grandfather that purchased vines in the Sézannais in the 1960s; whereas the Grellets hail from Cuis and Cramant in the Côte de Blancs. Beginning with a mere two hectares, today the domaine has tripled in size. Adrien has been making the wines since 2012. An autodidact whose methods are more informed by his own experiments and the experience of his friends in Burgundy and Champagne, he believes in living soils, grapes harvested at full maturity, élevage in wood and low dosage. Some blends are informed by the presence of older wines taken from a perpetual reserve established in 1986 on the domaine's inception. This approach yields complex, vinous wines that display considerable texture and power, though not at the expense of all the chalky refinement one expects from villages such as these. Dhondt has certainly hit the ground running, and I'm excited to follow his evolution as a winemaker over the decades to come. Everything reviewed here comes warmly recommended.(09/2021)"
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