Champagne "Granite" Extra Brut

France
Champagne
NV

Champagne Ployez-Jacquemart celebrated it 90th anniversary in 2020. To mark this occasion, Laurence Ployez began planning years ago, a special one-time release to celebrate : Cuvée “Granite”. “Granite” combines some of the very best vintages that they have ever made, including 1976, 1982, 1988, 1996, 1999, and 2000 to name a few, to create a balance of power and complexity. The base vintage is 2013 and makes up approximately 40% of the final blend. The vintage 2000 is approximately 20% of the blend and then the proportion goes down among the remaining eleven vintages (1976 -1982-1983-1988-1990-1995-1996-1999-2004-2011-2012). The blend was created in the winter of 2014. Disgorged June 2019 with 4.75g/L dosage.

BLEND:

61% of Chardonnay from Mesnil sur Oger, Puisieulx, Cramant, Cuis, Bisseuil, Tauxière, Grauves

31% Pinot Noir from Mailly Champagne

8% Meunier from Ludes

VINTAGE BLEND: 1976 -1982-1983-1988-1990-1995-1996-1999-2000-2004-2011-2012- and 2013
*The base vintage is 2013 and makes up approximately 40% of the final blend. The vintage 2000 is approximately 20% of the blend and then the proportion goes down among the remaining eleven vintages. The blend was created in the winter of 2014.

VINIFICATION: To balance the richness of this champagne, 41% of the blend is without malolactic fermentation. An extra brut dosage allows the wine to express all its aromas, its great richness, and its freshness.

DOSAGE : 4,75 g/L
DISGORGEMENT : June 1st, 2019
TOTAL PRODUCTION: 5,000 bottles
TOTAL EXPORTED TO US: 900 bottles

94+ points
"The Granite cuvée from Ployez-Jacquemart is a special bottling that Laurence Ployez has fashioned to commemorate the ninetieth anniversary of the maison, from a wide palette of vintages and all three major grape varieties. The cépages is the easier side of the equation here, as the wine is composed of sixty-one percent chardonnay, thirty-one percent pinot noir and eight percent pinot meunier (with the latter all from the family’s home village of Ludes on the Montagne de Reims). The chardonnay is from a wide variety of different villages, including Mesnil-sur-Oger, Tauxières, Pui-Sieulx, Cuis, Bisseuil, Grauve and Cramant. The pinot noir is all from the village of Mailly. But, even more complex than the cépages is the range of vintages this wine has been fashioned from, as it is a composition of 1976, 1982, 1983, 1988, 1990, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2011, 2012 and 2013! Forty-one percent of the wines were barrel- fermented and did not undergo malolactic fermentation, but I have no idea which ones. It was disgorged in June of 2019 and is quite a youthful wine in profile, offering up a beautiful bouquet of apple, pear, fresh almond, a very complex base of chalky soil tones, brioche and a discreet floral topnote. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and vibrant, with an excellent core, great mineral drive, utterly refined mousse and a very long, complex and perfectly balanced finish. Though this has some very old wines in its blend, it is not an old wine by any stretch of the imagination and I am sure it will drink gorgeously for the next thirty to forty years! It is an utterly superb bottle. 2020-2050+. "
John Gilman,
View From the Cellar
June 2020
94 points
"A one-off release to celebrate Ployez-Jacquemart's 90th anniversary, the NV Extra-Brut Cuvée Granite was disgorged in June 2019 with just under five grams per liter dosage. It's based on the 2013 vintage, which accounts for some 40% of the blend; next comes the 2000 vintage, contributing another 20%, with the balance made up of reserve wines from vintages 2012, 2011, 2004, 1999, 1996, 1995, 1990, 1988, 1983, 1982 and 1976. It's showing beautifully, offering up a delicate but complex bouquet wafting from the glass with dried white flowers, citrus oil, freshly baked bread, dried fruit, beeswax, toasted almonds, nutmeg and macadamia nut. Medium to full-bodied, elegant and fine-boned, it's satiny and precise, with a racy spine of acidity and a pearly mousse, concluding with an intensely sapid finish. This is not a powerful, dramatic Champagne, but it's strikingly complex and exquisitely refined."
William Kelley,
Wine Advocate
Issue: 248 | April 30, 2020
93 points
"Enticing accents of anise, graphite and lime blossom form an aromatic thread that winds through flavors of nectarine, passion fruit, toasted hazelnut and ginger biscuit. This harmonious Champagne shows a pleasing, subtle plushness, while a spine of vivid acidity imparts drive through to the mouthwatering finish. Drink now through 2027. 416 cases made, 75 cases imported."
Wine Spectator
November 15, 2020

SKU/Code: 
DB8581-NV
Product Line: 
National Portfolio
Wine
Sparkling
Varietal: 
Chardonnay