This has become my go-to bottle of Champagne ever since I first tasted it two years ago. The problem is I can’t always get it! Dhondt-Grellet is a small producer and their wines are catching on fast, but there’s just not enough available. This time I bought very last bottle the distributor could get us, but it won’t last long.

Dhondt-Grellet is a small grower house based in Flavigny. In 1986 Eric Dhondt and Edith Grellet decided to stop selling their grapes to larger producers and negociants, to concentrate their efforts in estate grown Champagne from their holdings in the Cotes de Blancs. Their son, Adrien Dhondt, has taken over the winemaking in recent years, and its he’s already taken the small producer into the next level of quality. Adrien, only in his 20’s, was awarded the prestigious vignerons of the year in 2017 in the “Trophees Champenois a Epernay”. Dhondt-Grellet is a Champagne has to watch for sure, and for now at least their wines are really well priced.  
 
Dhondt-Grellet Les Terres Fines 1er Cru Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut NV

Sale $59.99 net

94 pts Wine Advocate

Downright delicious 1er Cru Blanc de Blancs Champagne for under $50, sign me up! Adrien Dhondt uses nine different plots all from the rich limestone soils of Cuis. His 45+ year old vines produce lower yields of richly flavoured Chardonnay. The base for his non-vintage “Terres Fines” is 2013 (approximately 70%), with reserve wines included as far back as 1986. Dhondt’s Terres Fines is an Extra Brut style of Champagne (low dosage), only 2 grams per liter. I typically find Extra Brut styles of Champagne to be quite austere in their youth, but this is different. Dhondt’s fruit is so rich and flavourful that it offsets the leanness perfectly. It’s both dry and abundantly fruited, pretty amazing stuff for under $50. Classic brioche notes on the nose, with fresh peach, pear, apple and lemon in the mix. The palate is expansive, with more stone fruits, and a rich round creamy mouthfeel enhanced with notes of vanilla and spiced minerals. The finish lasts for almost a minute. A beautiful bottle, fantastic now and I bet it’ll age very well too. I just talked myself into another six pack…

“Disgorged in July 2020 with 1.5 grams per liter dosage, the NV Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs Premier Cru Les Terres Fines (2017) bursts with aromas of fresh pear, crisp yellow apple, citrus oil, toasted almonds and honeycomb. Medium to full-bodied, vinous and textural, with a fleshy core of fruit, lively acids and a saline finish, it's an elegantly enveloping, gastronomic Champagne.” Wine Advocate


Or reply. The wine is available today in Chapel Hill. Tuesday, as ordered, in Hillsborough.