Pierre Mignon Grand Vintage 2016

Pierre Mignon Grand Vintage 2016 is a Champagne to choose when you want time to be part of the composition. The wine is built around 60% Chardonnay, with 30% Meunier and 10% Pinot Noir. It has spent around nine years on its lees, with a dosage of 6 g/L. Those details tell a useful story: a particular harvest, a Chardonnay-led blend and extended maturation rather than an anonymous non-vintage cuvée. The Mignon family works from Le Breuil in the Vallée de la Marne. Its Champagne heritage dates to 1892, and Jean-Charles and Céline Mignon now lead the house. The vineyards extend across approximately twenty hectares in the Vallée de la Marne and Côte des Blancs, allowing different grapes and sites to inform its range. Chardonnay has a strong presence in the house's Grand Cru programme, while Meunier shapes many of its core wines. In Grand Vintage 2016 those strands come together with Pinot Noir in a smaller supporting role. One pleasure of vintage Champagne is the chance to follow a single growing year after years of cellar ageing. Around nine years on lees gives this bottling a meaningful period of maturation, but it is better to enjoy the individual wine than to assume a fixed list of flavours. At 6 g/L, the stated dosage is measured, part of the balance the producer has chosen for this particular release. This is a bottle worth opening at the table. Use generous Champagne stems and allow the wine a little air in the glass instead of pouring it ice-cold. Its history makes it enjoyable over a leisurely meal, when the vintage and years of maturation can be part of the conversation. Simply cooked poultry, a rich vegetable dish or an elegant cheese course offers an unforced setting. Within the Pierre Mignon range, Grande Réserve introduces the house's Meunier-led multi-vintage side, while Harmonie de Blancs offers a different mature Chardonnay focus. Grand Vintage 2016 is the choice for someone who wants the estate's clearly named vintage, its particular grape balance and patient ageing in a single bottle.