2020 Dhondt-Grellet Champagne Nogers Blanc de Blancs (Pre-arrival)

“Without surprise, one of the portfolio’s highlights is Dhondt’s 2020 Blanc de Blancs Cuis Les Nogers, vinified in 40% new wood and disgorged in September 2025 with a dosage of 1.5 grams per liter. The wine bursts from the glass with aromas of orange peel, peach and cedar nut, mingled with overtones of toasted bread and smoke. Full-bodied and concentrated, layered and muscular, with chalky structuring extract and vibrant acidity, it unites the plenitude of fruit harvested at full maturity with incisiveness and energy, concluding with a long, searingly sapid finish. This is another compelling Les Nogers from Adrien Dhondt, and there is little to choose between it and Le Bateau. Harvested on September 6, it presents a touch racier style than the 2019. Readers will recall that Les Nogers is sourced from two distinct altitudes and geological profiles within the same lieu-dit in Cuis, planted with massal selection Chardonnay in 1974. Both sites, facing northwest, are harvested, pressed and vinified separately.”