Nathalie Vignier is the tenth generation of her family to grow grapes in Champagne, and the sixth in her village of Cramant. In team with her family friend Sebastian Nickel, their substantial estate spans 16.5 hectares, planted exclusively to chardonnay in Cramant, Oiry and Chouilly and the Coteaux du Sézannais... These are generous champagnes, built around ripe fruit, vinified in stainless steel vats with full malolactic fermentation and aged long on lees, with little need for dosage, and all are bottled at an extra-brut level of 5g/L.
J. Vignier Deux Terres Brut 2008
92 points; Disgorged September 2016; Tasted in Australia
100% chardonnay from two plots, one in Cramant for vivacity, and one in Barbonne-Fayel south of Sézanne for roundness and breadth; aged 8 years on lees; 5g/L dosage; formerly named ‘Cuvée 2008’; 3500 bottles
The ripe exuberance of J. Vignier is neatly juxtaposed by the tension of the 2008 harvest. There is a compelling generosity here that contrasts ripe white peach fruit with a panoply of layers of aged complexity: golden fruit cake, fruit mince spice, wild honey and brioche. Eight years on lees has built buttery, creamy structure, well countered on the finish with a touch of bitter grapefruit bite.
Extract from the Champagne Guide Tyson Stelzer 2020 - 2021
