Pierre Gimonnet & Fils Cramant Grand Cru Special Club 2016 (750ML)

95 JS / 94 JD / 94 WI / 93 VM

#1 Wine Independent Champagne Over $100 2024

Deep nose of preserved and candied lemons with bread dough and toasted baguette. Concentrated and well structured, but the chalky minerality and the lively fine mousse give this a wonderful brightness and energy. Long really crystalline finish. From vines planted between 1911 and 1982 in the Terres des Buissons, Bauves and Champ de Prevot sites. Bottled in April 2017 and disgorged in November 2022. Drink or hold. - James Suckling  

The 2016 Champagne Grand Cru Special Club Cramant Brut displays a slightly more direct nature in the glass, with more bright green apple fruit coming forward, followed by notes of light reduction, lime zest, and a lightly savory element of lime leaf as well. It’s more powerful and austere on the palate, with driving intensity, a peppery mousse, and a clean, mouthwatering saltiness on the finish. It’s going to benefit from another year or more in the cellar. Drink over the coming 15 or more years.-Audrey Frick, JebDunnuck

Light gold with a persistent fine bead, the Pierre Gimonnet Special Club Cramant Grand Cru 2016 is a thoroughbred Côte des Blancs fermented in stainless steel, aged five plus years on fine lees and finished with a four gram per liter dosage. The nose seems one dimensional at first; chalk, mineral, chalk then more mineral, but eventually gives way to delicate aromas of fresh quince, nashi pear and eventually a tiny bit of honey. The light to medium-bodied palate is by contrast ample with orchard fruit concentration accompanied by refreshing, mineral-edged acidity, and a lick of salinity on the elegant finish. 3800 bottles produce. Disgorged April 2023 L943042571 - Sarah Mayo, Wine Independent

The 2016 Extra Brut Spécial Club Cramant Grand Cru is airy and light on its feet. A Champagne of total understatement, this hovers over the palate with sublime finesse. This is 100% Chardonnay sourced from a blend of multiple old vine Grand Cru plots (some more than 100 years old). Crushed rocks, lemon peel, mint, white flowers, pear and tangerine oil all take shape. The Cramant is not an obvious or overt Champagne, but it is undeniably beautiful and alluring. Dosage is 4 grams per liter. Disgorged: November, 2022. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media