Dhondt - Grellet: Champagne Le Bateau Vieille Vigne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut 2020

Parker om: Champagne Le Bateau Vieille Vigne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut

Dhondt’s 2020 Blanc de Blancs Cramant Le Bateau, disgorged in September 2025 with a dosage of one gram per liter, is brilliant. Raised in 60% new oak, it emerges from the glass with a deep bouquet of lemon confit, ripe peach and sesame, mingled with sandalwood and toasted bread, hinting at the complexity that will unfold with proper bottle age. Full-bodied, layered and concentrated, it is at once incisive and grandiose, underpinned by a racy spine of acidity and framed by chalky extract, concluding with a long, saline finish. Slightly less powerful than the 2019 rendition—though everything is relative—it remains an ample and demonstrative wine, presenting a touch more muscularity than Les Nogers in the same year. Readers will recall that the cuvée is derived from a 0.14-hectare parcel in Cramant that was planted in 1951 with massal selection Chardonnay and situated on the opposite side of the hill from Les Nogers. It is also the parcel where Dhondt employs tall canopies reaching two meters to provide shade to both grapes and soil and promote better ripening.