Franck Bonville Champagne Unisson NV

After last week’s Vintage Port I see no reason to deviate from the festive clichés this week. After all, I have been doing festive clichés on Winedoctor for 25 years now.

Alongside a couple of bottles of Triple Zéro from Domaine de La Taille aux Loups (both the non-vintage and the lesser-spotted Millésimé version – the latter surely owed its own Weekend Wine spot one day) I confess to popping the corks on one or two bottles of Champagne over the past few days. Some impressed more than others. One that struck a chord was the non-vintage Unisson from Franck Bonville.

Based in Avize, this family-run Champagne house dates back to the turn of the 20th century, when Alfred Bonville purchased a few parcels of vines, all of which were gathered closely around his home, the short distance significant as he could travel from home to vines and back on horseback. Having just started out he did not produce any wine; instead he sold his crop to others, presumably the larger Champagne houses.

The big shift in the family’s modus operandi came in the 1930s; the economic malaise of the era hit hard, and it was becoming progressively more difficult to sell their fruit, and so instead the Bonville clan decided to vinify their own wines. With this in mind, in 1936 Alfred and his son Franck purchased a winemaker’s house with some rudimentary facilities in Avize; it was from this small beginning that the Champagne house of Franck Bonville would grow.

Initially they continued to sell their newly fermented wines to larger houses, but in the post-war years they also began blending, bottling and marketing their own wines. Their inaugural vintage was 1959. In the years that followed the baton was passed to the next generation, Gilles Bonville, and then the next, Olivier Bonville. Today the domaine is run by Olivier and his son-in-law Ferdinand Ruelle-Dudel.

This is a Chardonnay house; Olivier and Ferdinand tend more than 80 parcels in Avize, Cravant, Oger and Le-Mesnil-sur-Oger, all renowned Côte des Blancs villages, all planted exclusively to this variety. Fashioned by blending the fruits from Avize and Oger, Unisson is essentially the domaine’s prestige non-vintage cuvée. For the technically minded (that’s everybody reading, right?) the first vinification is mostly in stainless steel, with some use of barrels, of varying sizes, with malolactic fermentation being the norm. In the case of this release – lot number L181123 if you’re interested – it is a blend of just two vintages, 2017 and 2018, the wine spending about five years sur lattes after the second fermentation. It was disgorged in November 2023 (on the 18th, looking at that lot number), and given a gentle dosage of just 5 g/l leaving it in an Extra Brut style.

In the glass the non-vintage Unisson from Franck Bonville Champagne has a pale straw hue, accompanied by a lively but fine mousse. There follows a wonderfully pure and classy yet still expressive nose, with layers of fine cashew, candied citrus and delicate lemon meringue, all very Chardonnay in style, all very blanc de blancs. There follows a rather impressive palate, stylish and finely composed, with a citrus purity wrapped up in a creamy mousse, supported by a peppery energy tightly intertwined with the fruit, and lifted by bright acidity. Sinewy and energetic in character, with touches of salty and chalky minerality, this has a mouth-watering sense of drive. Overall this is very smart; drink now for the its mineral purity, or hold a few years for more depth and complexity. The alcohol is 12.5% on the label. 93/100 (29/12/25)

Find Franck Bonville Champagne Unisson NV on Wine Searcher:

Find all Franck Bonville wines on Wine Searcher: