Girard-Bonnet’s A Deux Pas pays tribute to neighbouring Avize Grand Cru, bringing together several estate parcels, including vines planted as early as 1953. Vinified under wood with a perpetual reserve aged in foudre, it shows the complexity and aromatic richness of Avize Chardonnay, finishing with the fresh, saline character that makes the wine especially mouth-watering.
Style
A precise and elegant Blanc de Blancs Champagne, combining finesse with mineral tension and purity. Linear and refined, with a focused and terroir-driven profile.
Vineyard
Located in Avize, in the Côte des Blancs. Sourced from Grand Cru Chardonnay vineyards planted on chalk-rich soils, contributing to freshness, salinity, and pronounced minerality.
Winery
Hand-harvested grapes, fermented with native (wild) yeasts in a combination of oak barrels and stainless steel. Produced using the traditional method with aging on lees, enhancing texture and complexity while preserving precision and purity.
Nose / Palate
Citrus, lemon zest, white flowers, chalk, and light pastry notes, with a medium-bodied palate, fine persistent bubbles, vibrant acidity, subtle creamy texture, and a long, precise, elegant finish.
Avize is one of the historic Grand Cru villages of the Côte des Blancs, but its character is distinct from the neighbouring villages. If Cramant is often broader and more floral, Oger richer and creamier, and Le Mesnil-sur-Oger more austere and sharply linear, Avize stands between them with a particularly convincing combination of power, salinity and vertical freshness.
The vineyards lie on steep south- and south-east-facing slopes, where Campanian chalk comes close to the surface. This chalk is especially important in Avize: it gives the wines a firm mineral backbone, but the warmer exposures allow the Chardonnay to reach substantial ripeness. The result is neither delicate nor overly opulent, but concentrated, energetic and finely structured.
Avize Chardonnay is typically marked by lemon, grapefruit, green apple, white flowers, almond and subtle smoky or flinty notes. The palate is often more savoury and saline than that of Cramant, more incisive than Oger, and less austere than young Le Mesnil-sur-Oger. It can also show a distinctive bitter-citrus edge that adds length and complexity to the finish.
The village’s long viticultural history is reflected in its mosaic of small parcels, old vines and varied exposures. This diversity allows Avize to produce wines with both immediate intensity and considerable ageing potential.
At its best, Avize is the most balanced and complete of the central Côte des Blancs styles: more powerful than Cramant, more mineral than Oger, and more generous than Le Mesnil-sur-Oger. Its signature is Chardonnay with chalky tension, ripe fruit, savoury depth and a long saline finish.
"Entirely from Avize, Girards 2022-based NV Blanc de Blancs Avize A Deux Pas, incorporating 20% reserve wines from the two preceding years, was vinified entirely in wood"50% of which was new"and disgorged in December 2025 with a dosage of two grams per liter. Bursting with aromas of Tahitian vanilla, citrus oil, almond paste and toasted bread, it is medium- to full-bodied, textural and vinous, with broad shoulders and a rich core of fruit, underpinned by succulent acidity and concluding in a long, vanillin-inflected finish. It is the strongest, most precise of Girards non-vintage offerings this year."
2026-03-12
Girard-Bonnet is an emerging grower-producer in the Côte des Blancs, crafting highly limited Champagnes from just 12 hectares of Grand and Premier Cru vineyards.
Founded by young vigneron Paul Girard (born 1995) - connecting his father, Philippe Girard’s holdings in Les Mesnil, and his mother, Dominique Bonnet’s holdings in Oger - the estate represents a new generation focused on organic and biodynamic farming, with certification achieved in 2022 and ongoing Demeter conversion.
Producing only around 10–20,000 bottles annually, the wines are rare, precise expressions of 100% Chardonnay from prestigious sites like Le Mesnil-sur-Oger and Oger. Paul’s hands-on, low-intervention approach - using natural fermentations and extended lees aging - highlights purity, texture, and terroir.
This is a fresh, forward-thinking Champagne house, rapidly gaining attention for its authenticity and small-scale craftsmanship.
Alcohol consumption is harmful to your health. Alcoholic beverages are not sold to persons under 20 years of age.
