Franck Bonville Grand Cru Avize Blanc de Blancs Brut NV

93 pts Wine Advocate
Disgorged in March 2023 with a dosage of 8.3 grams per liter, the NV Brut Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs from Franck Bonville is showing brilliantly, with aromas of lemon oil, almond, butter, spring flowers and crisp orchard fruits. It is tauter than the Unisson counterpart with a medium to full-bodied palate, crystalline and lively texture and a slightly smoky, ethereal, long finish. Crafted from vines planted in Avize and Oger, it’s a blend of 2019 and 2020 vintages.

Our Tasting Note: (2023 disgorge)  Medium star bright gold. A frothy mousse, good bubble persistence. Chalk and fruit nose, some light florals and very light toast. White fruits: green apples, pears, then citrus with sweet lemons, chalky, mineral, direct and linear, finessed edges, excellent complexity and a very pleasurable intro wine.

• 100% chardonnay
• 70% from the 2020 harvest and 30% from the 2019 harvest from various holdings in the grand crus Avize and Oger
• Disgorged after 30 months of lees aging (2.5 years)
• 4.2 g/L dosage

With their flagship Blanc de Blancs, Bonville aims for a blend of finesse, precision, and the regal breadth Chardonnay in these great sites can achieve. In that spirit, the vineyard sources, proportions of reserve wines, and dosage levels can change from year to year. Our current bottling blends 70% from the 2020 harvest with 30% from the 2019 harvest, from various holdings in the grand crus Avize and Oger; it was disgorged after two years of lees aging and given a dosage—determined through blind tasting trials—of 8.3 grams per liter. Reading much drier on the palate than the dosage might suggest, this offers pretty notes of white flowers atop ample but refined fruit and an underlying impression of gunflint.