Owned by Richard and Karine Fouquet, this Guiborat Fils Grand Cru vintage champagne is produced from Chardonnay grapes in the quaint French village of Cramant.

Richard is the 5th generation of his family to be making champagne and he farms 8 ha of vines, the grapes from 5 ha of which are sold to Laurent Perrier.  The remaining 3 ha are used for their own champagnes, so production is metered and small.

We visited their Champagne house in June 2014, but purchased this in Seattle.  This is a vintage champagne with a pale lemon colour and a persistent, creamy mousse.

The nose is medium with aromas of lemon citrus and pear but is dominated by deep yeast and pastry.  The palate is dry with medium plus acidity, low alcohol and medium flavours of more citrus, lemon, pink grapefruit, freshly baked baguette and a long slightly bitter citrus pith finish.

There’s a Chablis-like crushed chalky rock characteristic as well to this WSET Very Good deep and rich, complex and layered bubble.