NV Girard-Bonnet Blanc de Blancs Au Bout du Chemin
The Wine Advocate
RP 90
Reviewed by: Kristaps Karklins
Release Price: NA
Drink Date: 2024 - 2032
Girard’s 2021 vintage-based NV Blanc de Blancs Au Bout du Chemin hails from two east-facing plots in Vertus—La Justice and La Grande Borne—and was disgorged in December 2023 with three grams per liter dosage. Incorporating 20% reserve wines from 2019 and 2020, it is vinified in nearly equal parts in stainless steel and oak (500- and 600-liter barrels). Wafting from the glass with a bouquet of yellow stone fruit, citrus zest and bread, it’s textural and demonstrative, especially in the context of the generally tight-knit vintage, defined by deeper clay soils. Medium-bodied, vibrant and pillowy, with an expansive finish, it’s the most fruit-forward wine in the range.
Published: Dec 20, 2024
NV Girard-Bonnet Blanc de Blancs A Mi-Chemin
The Wine Advocate
RP 91
Reviewed by: Kristaps Karklins
Release Price: NA
Drink Date: 2024 - 2034
From one of Mesnil's most promising young winegrowers, Girard-Bonnet’s NV Blanc de Blancs A Mi-Chemin is a blend of nine lieux-dits scattered around Le Mesnil-sur-Oger and Oger. Based on the 2021 vintage and complemented by 30% reserve wines from 2018 to 2020, it was matured on the lees in 350- and 500-liter barrels and steel, in nearly equal parts, and disgorged in February 2024 with two grams per liter dosage. Slightly high-toned, it unfurls from the glass with scents of apple peel, oyster shell and citrus fruit. It’s a wine with a taut profile, but not without flesh on its bones. It’s medium-bodied and pillowy, with a profile that combines a touch of sweetness with a saline, savory character. Informed by the cooler season, it’s lighter in structure than the 2022-based rendition tasted alongside.
Published: Dec 20, 2024
NV Girard-Bonnet Blanc de Blancs Mon Village
The Wine Advocate
RP 92
Reviewed by: Kristaps Karklins
Release Price: NA
Drink Date: 2024 - 2034
The 2021 vintage-based NV Blanc de Blancs Mon Village, sourced from Les Chétillons, Côte, Les Musettes and Montpetins lieux-dits in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, is another success from Girard-Bonnet. Complemented by 30% reserve wines from 2018 to 2020 kept in foudre, it was vinified in barrels (350 and 500 liters) and disgorged in February 2024 with three grams per liter dosage. Wafting from the glass with a bouquet of white flowers and orchard fruit, mingling with aromas of oyster shell and orange rind, it’s textural and fleshy, contradicting the incisive base vintage. With a vibrant spine of acidity, it is elegantly mineral, presenting a charming profile that will offer a broad drinking window. Based on thoughtful viticulture, the results speak for themselves, echoing Paul Girard’s belief that “the harder you work in the vineyards, the less you have do in the cellar,” as the most interesting fruit are produced from harmonious vines growing in living soils.
Published: Dec 20, 2024