NV Gimonnet-Gonet "L'Éclat" Brut Rosé, Champagne, France

ABOUT THIS WINE

Gimonnet-Gonet “L’Éclat” Brut Rosé NV is a grower Champagne with a very Chardonnay-driven personality: bright, chalky, saline and precise rather than the richer, darker-fruited style you sometimes get from rosé Champagne.

This Rosé is a blend of approximately 93% Chardonnay and 7% Pinot Noir, with the small Pinot component supplying color and red-fruit character. Fermentation is completed in  stainless-steel, full malolactic fermentation, followed by six months in tank, and 20 months on the lees. This is a Brut Champagne, with a dosage of 7 g/L.

ABOUT THIS PRODUCER

Gimonnet-Gonet is a family-run grower Champagne estate based in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, and the key to understanding them is Côte des Blancs Chardonnay. Their wines generally aim for purity, chalky minerality and precision rather than a heavily oxidative or oak-driven style. The domaine brings together two old Champagne winegrowing families: the Gimonnets from Cuis and the Gonets from Le Mesnil-sur-Oger. Anne Gonet and Philippe Gimonnet created Gimonnet-Gonet in 1986, starting with about five hectares. Their first wines were commercialized in 1990. Today, the next generation is increasingly responsible for the domaine. Their son Charles Gimonnet joined in 2012, followed by his twin sister Anne-Sophie in 2020. 

Gimonnet-Gonet's approach is quite transparent stylistically. They emphasize ripeness and aromatic purity, while trying to interfere relatively little once the grapes reach the cellar. Importantly, they favor neutral stainless-steel tanks rather than oak. The goal isn't to put a winemaking signature over the fruit but to preserve distinctions among their different parcels. A new vat room completed in 2024 expanded their ability to vinify individual lieux-dits and lots separately.

So when you taste through Gimonnet-Gonet, you're essentially tasting an estate increasingly interested in parcel and village identity rather than simply creating one uniform house style.