Roland Champion Grand Eclate Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs 2016

Roland Champion Grand Eclate Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs 2016 is one of the clearest vintage expressions of this Chouilly grower’s Chardonnay identity. The wine comes from the 2016 harvest and is made from Chardonnay, with the documented bottling described as 100% Chouilly fruit and given six years on the lees before release. That origin matters. Roland Champion is based in Chouilly, one of the Grand Cru villages of the Côte des Blancs, and farms 14 hectares across more than 30 parcels. Chardonnay accounts for the majority of the family vineyard, while Meunier and Pinot Noir from Verneuil broaden the range. Grand Éclat sits on the more focused side of the portfolio, taking the house away from multi-variety blending and towards a mature, vintage-specific Chardonnay expression. The 2016 shows an orchard-fruit profile, with pear especially prominent. The source description also points towards pear Tatin and freshly baked pastry, giving the wine a richer, more developed register than a young, purely citrus-led Blanc de Blancs. Six years of lees ageing provides important context for that maturity, helping explain why the cuvée is positioned above the estate’s more immediate Chardonnay expressions. The wider Roland Champion range makes the progression easy to understand. Éclat de Craie is the natural introduction to the domaine’s Chouilly Chardonnay, while the Grand Éclat vintages move into a more mature and harvest-specific style. Spécial Club occupies a similarly serious vintage territory, and Les Partelaines narrows the focus even further to a single Chouilly parcel and zero dosage. For buyers looking specifically for mature Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs from a family grower, Grand Eclate 2016 has a particularly clear proposition: Chardonnay, Chouilly, a declared 2016 vintage and extended lees ageing. It is not simply a generic house Blanc de Blancs; the vintage and maturation are central to the bottle’s identity, giving this release a more defined sense of time and place.