Franck Bonville "Les Belles Voyes", Millésime, Oger Grand Cru, Blanc de Blancs, Brut 2016 750ml

The crown jewel of Bonville’s holdings is a 0.8-hectare parcel of 1960-planted Chardonnay in “Les Belles Voyes,” a hilltop vineyard in the grand cru Oger situated at the border of the grand cru Le Mesnil sur Oger. This cuvée—Bonville’s only wine which sees oak—spends eight months aging in used barrels before being bottled for its secondary fermentation. The chalk layer at this high point on the hillside is three to four meters deep (compared to around one meter in Avize), and this—along with the texture-enhancing barrel regimen—imparts a strikingly gripping, driving, billowing character to the palate. This release spent nearly eight years on the lees and was given a dosage of 6.7 grams per liter.