Style

A structured and expressive Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs, showcasing the depth, power, and chalky minerality of Chardonnay from the Côte des Blancs. Complex, precise, and gastronomic.

Vineyard

Sourced from Grand Cru villages Cramant in the Côte des Blancs. Pure chalk soils provide intense minerality, tension, and precision, while low yields enhance concentration and terroir expression.

Winery

Fermented mainly in stainless steel, with a significant portion aged in oak barrels for added texture and complexity. Reserve wines add depth and consistency. Aged approximately 36+ months on lees.

Nose / Palate

Lemon zest, grapefruit, white flowers, almond, brioche, and toasted notes. Powerful yet precise, with creamy mousse, vibrant acidity, pronounced chalky minerality, and a long, complex, structured finish.

Cramant is one of the most celebrated Grand Cru villages of the Côte des Blancs, historically recognised for producing Chardonnay of remarkable purity, finesse and ageing potential. The name itself is thought to derive from the old French cram, referring to the chalky nature of the site — an appropriate reflection of the village’s identity.

The vineyards rise on the eastern slopes of the Côte des Blancs, where Campanian chalk lies close to the surface. The soils vary from very shallow chalk on the upper slopes to deeper, more clay-rich soils lower down, creating a remarkable diversity of expressions within the village.

Cramant Chardonnay is typically defined by a balance of freshness and generosity. Citrus, green and yellow apple, white flowers and ripe stone fruit combine with a distinctly chalky minerality. Compared with Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Cramant generally feels broader and more immediately expressive, while retaining excellent acidity and precision.

Historically, Cramant became one of the reference points for Blanc de Blancs Champagne, and many of its most famous parcels have been cultivated for generations. The village's old vines and varied exposures allow producers to create wines ranging from delicate and floral to powerful, concentrated and deeply mineral.

At its best, Cramant combines the elegance of Chardonnay with the generosity of Grand Cru terroir — fresh and precise, yet textured and expressive, with a long saline finish and considerable potential for bottle ageing.

Le Bâteau is a historic single-vineyard site in Cramant Grand Cru, and one of the parcels through which Dhondt-Grellet expresses the individual character of the Côte des Blancs. The domaine, founded by Eric Dhondt and Edith Grellet, has been built around a precise, parcel-based approach, with the next generation, including their son Adrien Dhondt, continuing to develop the family’s reputation for terroir-driven Champagne.

For Dhondt-Grellet, Le Bâteau is not simply a wine from Cramant, but a way of showing the particular identity of one vineyard. The family’s work focuses on preserving the character of the fruit through careful farming, gentle pressing and élevage that allows the site to speak clearly rather than being dominated by oak or dosage.

The parcel is rooted in the chalk-rich soils of Cramant, giving the Chardonnay a firm mineral backbone and characteristic saline freshness. Cramant’s favourable exposure brings ripeness and generosity, creating a balance between concentration and tension.

The wine typically shows lemon, grapefruit, white flowers, green apple and ripe stone fruit, with almond, pastry and subtle smoky notes developing through élevage and bottle age. The palate is focused and energetic, combining a fine, creamy texture with chalky minerality and a long, saline finish.

What makes Le Bâteau particularly interesting is the balance between Cramant’s natural generosity and Dhondt-Grellet’s precise, parcel-focused style. It has more flesh than the most austere expressions of Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, yet remains taut, mineral and clearly defined.

For lovers of Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs, Le Bâteau is a concentrated and terroir-driven expression of Cramant — elegant, chalky, saline and structured, while also reflecting the history and philosophy of the Dhondt-Grellet family.

2020 is a strong and particularly interesting vintage for Cramant Chardonnay. The season was exceptionally early and warm, with a very dry summer, but the grapes remained remarkably healthy. Chardonnay ripened later than Pinot Noir and Meunier, requiring growers to wait for the right balance between ripeness, acidity and aromatic maturity.

For Cramant, this produced Chardonnay with ripe fruit and impressive concentration, but still a firm, fresh mineral backbone. Tasting of Cramant fruit from 2020 showed ripe acidity, citrus and crunchy apple alongside good phenolic maturity.

The style is especially attractive because 2020 sits between the richness of 2018 and the more classical freshness of cooler years. One contemporary assessment described the vintage as close to 2018 in style, but with more freshness, while Chardonnay was singled out as particularly successful overall.