2014 Bonnet-Gilmert, Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Millésime

A few weeks back we introduced you to the soaring Blanc de Blancs Champagne of Bonnet-Gilmert, a tiny, family owned and operated estate in the heart of the most lauded village for Chardonnay in the Côte de Blancs: Mesnil-sur-Oger. Their Brut Reserve is easily one of the best deals in Grand Cru Champagne we’ve seen in years, but we saved the best for last. They also make miniscule amounts of vintage, aka millésime, Champagne and after our visit last fall they agreed to let us have a few precious cases. I consider vintage bottles from Pierre Peters, Moncuit, and (when lighting strikes) Salon to be among the best wines I’ve ever had. And folks, I have to tell you that this bottle is in that league. It’s supremely elegant, mineral, and impossibly long on the finish, and at ten years of age it is just getting started. All of that and more, and somehow the price is well below $100 (a fraction of what their famous neighbors charge). We have exactly 8 cases, and then it will be gone for good.