Franck Bonville, the Elegance from Cote de Blanc

Franck Bonville, the Elegance from Cote de Blanc

Franck Bonville

Taking advantage of the approaching dates, we wanted to present as cellar of the month what is for us one of the best champagne winegrowers.


The Franck Bonville house has been producing champagne on the Côte de Blanc for three generations and offers us one of the purest forms of Chardonnay, from its basic blanc de blancs, fine and delicate wines, to its champagnes from grand cru villages, where they find chalky soils on a mantle of ancient oceans, which give character and minerality to their wines like nowhere else in the world.


Today, we have the pleasure of speaking with Ferdinand Ruelle, who has worked with the family for years, and who will reveal some secrets of the house to you.


Hello Ferdinand, first of all, we would like you to explain a bit what makes Franck Bonville champagnes special for you?


The family vineyard is located in the villages of Avize, Oger and Mesnil sur Oger, entirely in Chardonnay. We therefore only produce Grand Cru, Blanc de Blancs wines. We like to find in our wines the fresh frame and the saline finish characteristic of our limestone Terroirs. We have at heart, by the choice of good maturities at the harvest, the vinification, the contribution of reserve wines, the aging on lees and the dosage, to bring generosity and a certain greediness to our wines.

I would say that our wines are slightly atypical because we like to temper the tension of our wines with the richness and delicacy of the wines.


It is obvious that the trend of consumption of sparkling wines in general is changing, giving rise to increasingly dry and versatile wines: How important is the dosage to you and how do you apply it to your champagnes?

The dosage is, in our opinion, part of the Champagne art and is an oenological decision in its own right.

We are used to tasting our wines at different dosages in order to choose the one that will bring the most balance. It is true that when the wine ages in cellars, on the lees, and the blanc de blancs thickens naturally over time, it is often possible to find balances at lower dosages.

I am convinced that the dosage can bring an additional dimension to a wine, make it more complex and intensify its structure, its length. It also helps to establish the structure of the wines and allows them to age with elegance.

For those who haven't tasted your wines, tell us a bit about the difference between the main cuvées and the best way to taste each of them.


We offer two blends in the Franck Bonville range: the Brut cuvée, after 2 years in the cellar, expresses the tension and floral notes of Chardonnay from the Côte des Blancs in its youth.

For our second blend, the Unisson cuvée, we choose wines with more intensity, more personality and which will have greater potential for evolution. We let it age on slats for 4 to 5 years, in order to develop the first pastry and toasted notes of the Chardonnay, notes that we really appreciate. We are convinced of the interest and the strength of the blends and this Unisson vintage represents precisely this desire that we have, that by choosing the right wines and giving them time to evolve correctly on the lees, we can create very fine Champagne blends.
Alongside these blends, each year we offer a photograph of the wine-growing year, our vintage cuvée. The interest here is to offer a wine which, in the Bonville style, characterizes the specificities of a year, very often from our vineyards in Aviz. We decline this vintage in a vintage Extra Brut cuvée.
Finally, going from the sense of geographical precision, we offer a plot cuvée from our plot Les Belles Voyes, in Oger. Vinified in a park of fifty Burgundian barrels (228 L), the wood brings an aromatic elegance and a controlled generosity that makes this cuvée a true gastronomic wine.

We always appreciate our blanc de blancs as an aperitif because it is a time when the elegance and finesse of our wines is particularly relevant.

The delicacy and richness of the wines that we try to reveal in vinification naturally allow us to appreciate our cuvées with the classic Blanc de Blancs pairings, in particular fish and seafood.

The generosity of the Unisson, the complexity of the Belles Voyes make it possible to think outside the box...I appreciate them on poultry with mushroom sauces for example.


And to Finish, What is for you the most special champagne of the house and what would you choose if you had to give a present this Christmas?


The Unisson cuvée, for its balance, its fresh structure, its generosity. A true emblem of Bonville know-how and style.
Presentation Video of the Winery: http://champagne-franck-bonville.com/fr/la-maison-bonville/notre-situation/

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