Champagne Girard-Bonnet 'Les Mussettes' Grand Cru Extra Brut 2020
Champagne Girard-Bonnet is a rising grower-producer estate located in the heart of the Côte des Blancs in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, France. Founded in 2018 by young vigneron Paul Girard (born in 1995), the house unites two deep-rooted local winegrowing families: his father Philippe Girard’s vineyards in the Grand Cru village of Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, and his mother Dominique Bonnet’s historic holdings in Oger. The estate spans roughly 12 hectares across prestigious sites including Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Oger, Avize, and the Premier Cru village of Vertus.
In the vineyards, Paul Girard practices strict organic and biodynamic farming (certified organic in 2023), building on decades of herbicide-free soil management started by his father. The production focuses almost exclusively on expressive, chalk-driven Chardonnay (Blanc de Blancs), vinified plot-by-plot using natural yeasts, neutral oak, stainless steel, and amphoras, with no fining or filtration. Signature cuvées like Mon Village and A Mi-Chemin showcase the tension, salinity, and pure limestone mineral structure of the Côte des Blancs.
| Vintage | 2020 |
| Varietal Composition | 100% Chardonnay |
| Appellation | Cote de Blancs |
| Alcohol | 13.00% |
| Volume | 750 ml |
| Country of Origin | FRANCE |
| State of Origin | N/A |
| Artificially Carbonated | No |
| Sparkling Wine | Yes |
While 'Mon Village' is a balanced picture of Le Mesnil, Mussettes is a more intense, chalky and low-yielding plot that yields tigher, more compact wines that start to reveal themselves with more age. With 52 months on lees this is now opening up, with powerful salted lemon, cooked orange citrus and some sweet roasted spice notes from barrel aging. It carries some of the pithy, punchy ripeness of the 2020 vintage here, and remains tightly-coiled and racy - just another year or two of ageing will see this reach perfect balance. - Decanter, 94 pts
