Gimonnet Special Club Label?

Paging Brad Baker or WK… I noticed that Pierre Gimonnet’s Special Club (the non single-village one) has three different labels. One reads “Millesime de Collection” up top, the other “Vieilles Vignes du Chardonnay” at the bottom, and then I’ve also seen “Grands Terroirs de Chardonnay” at the bottom. Any idea if there’s a difference? I think one of them is a magnum-only version, but is it different juice? I’ve been browsing some offers for the '08 in 750ml and 1.5L and don’t know which is which.

Quick Answer:

Grands Terroirs de Chardonnay is the new name for Gimonnet’s village blend (or traditional) Special Club. This is to distinguish it from the single village Special Clubs.

Millesime de Collection is the name of Gimonnet’s late disgorged Special Club (identical blend to the regular Special Club). It used to be called Millesime de Collection Vielles Vignes de Chardonnay before it became Millesime de Collection Special Club for the 2002 vintage. It then changed back to Millesime de Collection Vielles Vignes de Chardonnay with the 2004 vintage before returning to the Millesime de Collection Special Club with the 2008 vintage. It is possible that both naming variations exist for the 2002-2006 vintages.

Older (pre-2008) vintages of the Millesime de Collection that are recently released will often be labeled with the new name of Millesime de Collection Special Club regardless of how they were originally released. Until the year 2000 and later vintages, the Millesime de Collection Vielles Vignes de Chardonnay was a magnum only release, often came in a wooden box, and had a white/off-white/cream oval label that was completely different from the Special Club dress.

The Millesime de Collection now comes in both bottles and magnums and the only way I have ever seen Gimonnet Special Club in magnum is when it is released as a Millesime de Collection. The Millesime de Collection wines always see at least 1 extra year of pre-disgorgement age (often more) than the original Special Club release.

Even more confusing is that the 2008 saw 750mL bottles and magnums released at pretty much the same time with both the Special Club label and the Millesime de Collection Special Club designation. In fact, most of the 2008s that I have seen are in the Millesime de Collection Special Club format. Also, Gimonnet is holding back some of the first decade of the 2000 vintages for later release Millesime de Collection magnums. These are and will be labeled as Millesime de Collection Vielles Vignes de Chardonnay even if the first wave of these (2002 and 2008) were labeled as Millesime de Collection Special Club. So if there is a release hierarchy to things it would be Special Club in 750mL bottle, 1-2 years later would see magnums and occasionally bottles of Millesime de Collection Special Club, after another 3+ years, it would change to Millesime de Collection Vielles Vignes de Chardonnay in only magnums and sometimes still with a pretty wooden box.

Clear as mud?

*Edited - Added second to last paragraph to add more clarity

Yes! Mud.

What’s the long answer?

Well, we didn’t get in to bottle shapes, which vintages were magnum only, how many were made, why they were made, when they first came out, dosage differences, etc…

Wow. Brad, you are a gem, even if it took me 30 minutes to comprehend that. It looks like the 08, 12, and 14 I’ve purchased is all late disgorgement then. Have you seen any of these vintage SC’s that are not “millesime de collection”? And have you had a chance to taste the same vintage regular/late disgorgement side-by-side for comparison sake?

Thank you Brad for clearing up something I’ve always wondered about but never dared to ask

Andrew,

Another question that appears simple, but really isn’t (at least to me).

Part of the problem with Gimonnet’s Millesime de Collection is that it can be disgorged and released at many points in time (and the dosage can change too). For most of the vintages in the 2000s, when first released, it was normally only 1-2 years after the Special Club came out which, to me, is about when you would want the initial release of magnum of a wine to come out vs. a 750mL bottle. For this initial (and largest release), there is a slight difference and I prefer the Millesime de Collection in magnum over the Special Club, but I normally prefer a magnum to a 750 of the same wine; the difference is really only due to the magnum effect in my opinion. When I had initial release 750mL bottles of the Millesime de Collection vs. Special Club, I didn’t get much of a difference at all.

Lately, Gimonnet seems to be changing this and the Millesime de Collection is moving back more to only magnums and a much later disgorgement and release when compared to the Special Club. This creates more of a difference and these much later disgorged magnums (which also have a lower dosage) are better to me than the original Special Club releases and better than the initial Millesime de Collection magnum releases. These much later releases are also always labeled as Millesime de Collection Vielles Vignes de Chardonnay to distinguish them from any earlier, late releases that were sometimes labeled as Millesime de Collection Special Club.

For very old releases, it really depends. Provenance is everything on older wines and, to me, that is the best benefit of buying a late release from the winery. I also really like the magnum format so these very late release wines often show an extra brightness, precision, and integration vs. original 750 mL releases.

As to 2008, 2012, and 2014, are these all magnum offerings? The 2008 appears to have initially come out in late release 750 mL and magnum format as a Millesime de Collection Special Club and now is out in magnum as a much later released Millesime de Collection Vielles Vignes de Chardonnay. In fact, it looks like many of the first wave 2008 750 mLSpecial Clubs were labeled as Millesime de Collection Special Club. I will have to ammend my above post with these details.

In general, Gimonnet’s Special Club labeling was a mess for the vintages released between 2000-2012. I think Didier Gimonnet has got it figured out now, but who knows.

Thanks Brad. I’m sorry I asked

Because you were the last to touch it now you have to clean up cellar tracker…

That is not an easy task though CellarTracker has done a really good job keeping up with Gimonnet’s Special Club.