🍾 Pierre Gimonnet & Fils Brut Extra

Pierre Gimonnet & Fils Brut Extra is a non-vintage white Champagne in the Extra Brut style from the house Pierre Gimonnet & Fils in Cuis (Marne).

According to the house, a less dosed version of the classic non-vintage brut with longer ageing on the laths.

Pierre Gimonnet & Fils is a family house from Cuis on the Côte des Blancs; according to the house, all its grapes come from its own 29.4 ha of premier and grand cru vines, and it makes almost only blanc de blancs.

The boundaries of the Champagne area were set by a law of 6 May 1919: parts of the Marne, Aube, Aisne, Haute-Marne and Seine-et-Marne departments. The designation’s specification allows seven grape varieties, dominated by Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier; grapes are picked as whole bunches, that is by hand, and the yield is limited to 10,400 kg per hectare.

According to the Comité Champagne, Champagne is served chilled to 8–10 °C, and bottles are kept in the dark at a steady 10–15 °C, without vibration. An opened bottle is best closed with a sparkling-wine stopper and kept cold.

It is sold under the protected designation of origin Champagne: the bubbles come only from a second fermentation in the bottle, and the wine is aged for at least 15 months before sale (36 for vintage). Extra Brut on the label is an EU sugar term: 0 to 6 g of sugar per litre.

Why it matters to you. No year on the label means it is not a vintage wine: the house may blend wines from different harvests. Blanc de blancs on the label means a wine made only from white grapes. The WHO reminds: there is no safe level of alcohol.