What's Pressoir Drinking? Champagne Dhondt-Grellet, "Les Nogers" 2013

September 8, 2020
by Max Goldberg Liu

At what point does a pairing become a classic? Some foods and wines are just a perfect match, even if their cultural origins are very different.

Fried chicken and Champagne is one such pairing for me.

For my family's Labor Day fried chicken (Bon Appetit's recipe - boneless thighs dry-brined for a few hours, coated in spices, soaked in buttermilk, dredged, and shallow fried) I decided to open this bottle from one of my favorite producers, Champagne Dhondt-Grellet.

Located in the tiny village of Flavigny (population 165), just east of Avize in the Côte des Blancs, Dhondt-Grellet is a six hectare estate that follows the recent history of many of the small grower families in Champagne - in the mid 80's, couple Eric Dhondt and Edith Grellet decided to stop selling grapes to the large houses and became récoltants-manipulants.

Today, their son Adrien runs the estate, and like so many winemakers of his generation, he is conscientious in his farming, working both organically and biodynamically (though uncertified). The estate's small size allows him to cut no corners.

This particular cuvée has undergone a few name changes over the years. It was originally Millésimé, then Vieilles Vignes Sélectionnées until 2011, and since 2012, Adrien has bottled it as Les Nogers to pay homage to the lieu-dit in Cuis (another example of the shift in focus towards terroir-centricity by this new generation).

As a Premier Cru village, Cuis is maybe one of the less heralded villages in the Côte des Blancs compared to some of its more famous neighbors but I find there is a lot of finesse in Cuis, which is often described as producing blanc de blancs Champagnes with a certain "lightness".

Dhondt leans into this style by making Les Nogers entirely in stainless steel. Combined with the concentration obtained from relatively old vines for Champagne (~50 years), this wine has a great amount of precision and cut, despite being from the rich and ripe 2013 vintage, giving aromas and flavors of lemon, white peach, and brioche, along with terrific minerality.

All this to say that it was a knockout pairing with the fried chicken. I particularly enjoyed how the chalkiness plays with the hot pepper in the spice mixture.

I know I am not nearly the first to enjoy this pairing, and with so many people enjoying fried chicken with their Champagne, it's probably safe to call it a "new classic!"