2011 Dhondt-Grellet "Les Pensées" Blanc de Blancs Premier Cru, Extra Brut, Champagne, France

ABOUT THIS WINE

The 2011 Les Pensées vintage from Champagne Dhondt-Grellet is a Blanc de Blancs made from 55-year-old vines located in Cuis, in the heart of the Côte des Blancs. The product of a delicate vintage, this long-aged champagne combines floral intensity, chalky depth, and a rich, elegant texture.

Adrien Dhondt conceived Les Pensées 2011 as a Blanc de Blancs of great purity, seeking a balance between maturity, precision, and length. Made from the estate's oldest vines, this vintage expresses itself with exceptional depth, amplified by extended aging and meticulous vinification inspired by Burgundy.

The plot is located in the Premier Cru of Cuis , the historic terroir of the Dhondt family. The chalky soils provide a consistent water supply and a pronounced minerality. The altitude and moderate exposure give the Chardonnays a natural tension, floral freshness, and aromatic precision that characterize the great wines of Cuis.

The grapes are harvested at perfect ripeness, and only the first pressing is used. Adrien Dhondt's winemaking, "in the Burgundian style," combines precision with respect for the fruit. There is no chaptalization , and malolactic fermentation is fully completed to bring volume and complexity. The wine was bottled in May 2012 and aged for 10 years on its lees . Disgorgement in May 2021 was accompanied by an Extra Brut dosage (1 g/L) , highlighting the wine's natural balance.

The 2011 vintage was marked by contrasting weather conditions, demanding great care in the vineyard. In Cuis, the old vines preserved both freshness and ripeness, yielding expressive, floral, and vibrant Chardonnays. Thanks to its extended aging, Les Pensées 2011 now reveals a rare harmony of chalky tension, aromatic maturity, and creamy texture .

ABOUT THIS PRODUCER

Champagne Dhondt-Grellet was established in 1986 in the village of Flavigny, just outside Avize, when Éric Dhondt and Édith Grellet chose to begin estate bottling their own wines. The Dhondt family, originally Belgian farmers, had acquired vineyards in the Sézannais in the 1960s, while the Grellet family is rooted in Cuis and Cramant. Starting with just two hectares, the domaine has since expanded to roughly three times its original size.

A new chapter began in 2012, when Adrien took over winemaking at the age of 22. Today, he works alongside his sister Alice in continuing to shape the domaine’s direction, refining its focus on Chardonnay grown across the Côte des Blancs.

Since the beginning, the family has maintained a perpetual reserve, forming a quiet but essential part of the domaine’s identity. Each year, a portion is drawn off for tirage and replenished with wine from the new vintage before being returned to barrel on its lees. The reserve is moved back to tank ahead of harvest, and the cycle repeats—ensuring continuity while keeping the barrels in constant use.

Recent vintages mark an important step in the domaine’s evolution. The 2021 harvest, in particular, forms the backbone of several key cuvées, often supported by reserve wines to balance the vintage’s natural tension. Wines such as Roc Solaire reflect a shift toward more structured, textural expressions, where élevage and fruit maturity play an increasingly central role alongside freshness.