Champagne Dhondt-Grellet Cramat Grand Cru

Vineyards

Cramant, Champagne

Adrien Dhondt uses organic & biodynamic practices. Enriching his soils with homemade compost and, as of Spring 2021, ploughing each plot with his horse, Thor. His philosophy is to have a living soil with a healthy balance between microbial life and the vine. He does a lot of manual work on the vines: He prunes short and debuts severely to limit yields and produce ripe, concentrated fruit at harvest time. He often cites inspiration from great Burgundy estates by practising plot selection.

Winemaking and Maturation

In the cellar, Dhondt has moved almost completely to barrel fermentation with ambient yeasts, filling his fûts after a very short six hours’ settling (or débourbage) and adding minimal sulfur. The vins clairs spend eight months on the lees before tirage without cold stabilization, filtering or fining.

During those eight months of élevage, the wines are topped up when Dhondt deems it is appropriate judicious, “about every month and a half, I’d say, but I decide whether to top up—and whether to perform bâtonnage—by tasting.”

Again, the influence of Burgundy is evident in the texture and vinosity. Adrien cites Coche-Dury, Vincent Dancer, and Jean-Yves Bizot as among his inspirations.

Tasting Notes

Made of two lieux-dits that bring different perspectives of the village:

• Les Longues Verges – an early ripening site that produces deep, concentrated wines.
• La Garenne – historically a garden in the village with atypical sandy soils in the heart of the village.

Technical Details

CUVÉE: Cramant Grand Cru

SOIL: Clay and limestone soils over a chalk subsoil.

BLEND: 100% Chardonnay

DOSAGE REGIME: 3g/L