Gonet/Michel Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne Grand Cru 2012

18/20 points Jancis Robinson, MW: "From the Mesnil-sur-Oger lieu-dit Les Hautes Mottes. Disgorged 4 Febuary 2020. Dosage 2 g/l. Very nicely balanced racy aperitif or food champagne. Amazing persistence and some real lacy, almost entrancing evidence of autolysis on the nose. Pure fruit. Just the ticket! Drink between 2020-2028. (8/21/20)"

Producer notes: "From the classic Grand Cru village of Mesnil-sur-Oger, known for its razor-sharp acidity, comes this elegant vintage Blanc de Blancs champagne. Delicate aromas of citrus and green apple are given weight by a lightly creamy, biscuit texture. Acidity is nervy and cutting, still very fresh over eight years after the vintage. A long, persistent, subtly spicy finish completes this keenly priced wine."

Gonet is a very old name in Champagne. The family moved to Champagne from the Beaujolais in the 15th century and worked in the vineyards before establishing a Champagne house in the early 1800s. Each subsequent generation helped lay a foundation for a successful domaine with the most recent patriarch, Michel Gonet, enlarging the cellars in Avize and refocusing their winemaking in the 1970s. The total holdings are around 40 hectares, consisting mostly of Chardonnay on the Côte des Blancs. The vines are located in the villages of Le Mesnil sur Oger, a little further south, in Vindey on the Sézannais hillsides, and also near Troyes, on the slopes of Montgueux.