Champagne Franck Bonville

THE HISTORY

Champagne Franck Bonville is a Recoltant-Manipulant house based in Avize in the Côte des Blancs. They have been vineyard owners since 1889 and producers since 1946.

One had to be either a visionary or quite reckless (probably a little of both) to buy plots of land in vineyards that had been destroyed by phylloxera only a few years earlier but this is what Alfred Bonville did, seeking out and purchasing land that held promise for him. He limited his acquisition of land to a defined perimeter, one that was only a few hours away by horse from his home in Oger.

Alfred was both persistent and stubborn, qualities that enabled him to transition from grower to producer through the purchase of a house and cellar in Avize during The Great Depression, and to commercialise cuvées under Bonville Père & Fils following the turmoil and destruction from the Second World War. Through his enterprise, and that of the next three generations of Bonville’s, the family holdings now comprise 15 hectares of Grand Cru classified Chardonnay spread across 77 individual vineyard plots.

Olivier Bonville is the family’s fourth generation proprietor and winemaker. The Bonville land forms a mosaic of vineyards weaving through some of the most coveted Chardonnay terroir in all of Champagne. Olivier’s keen awareness of this has motivated his sensitive approach to viticulture, including the preservation of older vines at the expense of higher yields in order to more transparently express the influence of the chalky soils of the Côte on his various plots. The house has received the Haute Valeur Environnementale (HVE) accreditation for their sustainable vineyard practices.

The cuvées express the essence of Grand Cru Chardonnay and Champagne from the Côtes des Blancs, and the terroir of individual villages and vineyards.

OLIVIER BONVILLE'S STATEMENT - DISCOVERING THE CÔTES DES BLANCS THROUGH THE RHYTHM OF NATURE

“Shaping Champagne wines, Grand Cru, Blanc de Blancs, that are capable of carrying energy and emotion: these are Champagne Franck Bonville’s guiding principles.

Great meticulousness and attention all year long punctuate our work, to feel our vibrant vines and soils. Winemaking at the heart of the village of Avize is about setting the wine in motion, making it reveal its own dynamic. The ageing, at the centre of our one-hundred-year-old chalky cellars, gives a true meaning to what our body feels, immersed in this underground universe during the visit. The chalk links us to the creation of our terroir and gives this uniqueness to our wines.

On this remarkable terroir, at the cross-section of the villages of Avize, Oger and le Mesnil sur Oger, four generations of winegrowers have carried the Champagne Franck Bonville through the ages. Only the Chardonnay grape variety has been kept and truly drives the style of the house Bonville. The Bonville style cruises on two intertwined waves: the freshness and delicacy of the Côte des Blancs, wrapped with the generosity of our winemaking. Precision in the winemaking allows us to catch the vibrations given by the terroir. From the chalk loaded with water and minerals and from Chardonnay selected by the growers arises the emotion carried by the wines.”

The Cuvées

Brut, Grand Cru, Blanc de Blancs

Battement de l’heure exquise

An iconic wine, a flagship for the Bonville house, finesse, elegance and unctuosity, thanks to the choice of our reserve wines.

Millésime, Grand Cru, Blanc de Blancs

Chant d’une énergie libérée

We choose unique years that fully express the potential Côte des Blancs-Chardonnay duo. These vintage wines are sometimes fresh and sharp other times rich and deep. They travel through the ages and develop their energy and uniqueness after long-ageing.

Rosé, Grand Cru

Murmure printanier

The chalky tensions of the Chardonnay from the Côte des Blancs perfectly combine with the fine and fruity notes of the Pinot Noir from Ambonnay.

Unisson, Grand Cru

Échos de nos origines

The vineyard, the history and the style of the Bonville house together forge a generous and unctuous wine, supported by a fresh structure with a salty finish. This iconic cuvee from Champagne Franck Bonville is a result of the selection of quality cuvees and an assembly of vintage years.

Extra-Brut, Grand Cru, Blanc de Blancs

Ondes brisées sur les pierres

While the energy of the wine is revealed from its evolution and fresh structure highlighted by the low dosages, the emotion is revealed by the stunning balance. The Extra Brut Cuvée is elaborated from vintage wines, portraying the natural generosity of Blanc de Blancs after ageing on lees.

PUR TERROIR SERIES

This is the second release of the Pur Terroir series, only 2500 bottles of each cuvee is produced.  They are tiraged under cork (tirage liège), sealed with a metal staple in the traditional manner, and all bottles are hand disgorged. These Champagnes represent the expression of the distinct terroir of 3 Grand Cru villages in the Côte des Blancs, with fruit sourced from only 2 or 3 plots of Chardonnay that capture the essential character of the soils farmed by Franck Bonville.

Pur Oger, Grand Cru, Blanc de Blancs

Parcelles : Les Rumigny, Les Noyerots

The Oger terroir, a Grand Cru, is divided into one location hidden in the hollow of the valley between Avize and le Mesnil-sur-Oger, where the plot “Les Rumigny” is located, and another location at the bottom of the hill, in the area of “Les Noyerots”. This generous and complex wine highlights this duality in the terroir of Oger.

 Pur Mesnil, Grand Cru, Blanc de Blancs

Parcelles : Le Tilleul, Les Zailleux, Les Hautes Mottes

Our vine plots in Le Mesnil sur Oger are located in small areas where even the topsoils are chalky and give the wine tension and salinity, representative of the Le Mesnil village.

 Pur Avize, Grand Cru, Blanc de Blancs

Parcelles : Les Avats, Les Maladries, Les Chapelles

We have chosen vine plots that are representative of the Avize terroir, in the heart of the village, just a few meters away from our estate.