Special Club
2008
The Gimonnet family has been growing vines in Champagne since 1750. In 1935 Pierre Gimonnet, grandfather of current owners Didier and Olivier, began producing champagne in the village of Cuis. Didier and Olivier own 30 hectares in total; 16 hectares are Premier Cru from the village of Cuis. A high percentage of their vineyards are Grand Cru - 12 hectares in total, spread across the villages of Cramant, Chouilly, Oger and Aÿ. The Grand Cu vineyards have an average age of 40 years. Didier takes...
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Champagne's "Special Club" is a collection of 26 Champagne grower/producers who all have the common goal of promoting the expression and beauty of the special terroir in Champagne. The "Special Club" was created in 1971. Their efforts and the wines that result give us the best argument to continue exploring the different terroirs in Champagne.
The "Special Club" bottling is meant to represent a grower's best offering. Each year the members of the club meet and taste each other's still base wine to see if it is up to quality standards. Once the Club has agreed that the base wine is of sufficient quality, the grower is then allowed to produce the wine in the "Special Club" bottle and induce the second fermentation. After a minimum of 3 years of aging, the wine may be disgorged and tasted a second time by the Club. Then if the Club approves of the final product, it can be labeled and sold as a "Special Club" wine.
Pale gold. Fresh pear, oyster shell, chalk and honeysuckle scents are impressively focused and powerful. Offers intense, mineral-accented citrus and orchard fruit flavors, with an anise nuance gaining power with aeration. Rich but impressively vibrant on the finish, which shows outstanding length and stony cut. A highly successful Champagne from this erratic vintage.
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