Few Champagnes possess the latent and natural power of Clos des Goisses, and few, therefore, are better placed to illustrate the potential of a vintage as forthright and challenging as 2015. Charles Philipponnat, surely Champagne’s most prolific eponymous ambassador, has come to London to show the three 2015 releases, plus the Juste Rosé from 2014 and the LV (Long Vieillissement), released, as always, 25 years after harvest, therefore a child of the sunny 1999 vintage. The wines are robust and exuberant, gastronomically at ease with the beautifully nuanced fare from Shoreditch’s Clove Club in London (on September 5, 2024).
What of 2015? “Powerful” is the most used epithet, followed, more challengingly, by “astringent.” Charles remembers a vintage of drought and intense heat, but also intermittent and, at times, quite virulent rainfall, often not at the time when it may have been most welcome. He recalls deliberately holding out for an early September harvest (many brought in most of their fruit in August)—this in the name of physiological ripeness and inherent complexity, with, tellingly, the potential alcohol on picking noted at more than 11 degrees, meaning that the final wine that we are to taste easily exceeds 13 degrees. “Eleven degrees is fine, very good even,” he says, “though we do not wish for it to go much higher.”
This level, only dreamed of even in hot vintages such as 1976 or 1959, has also been achieved in 2018, 2019, and 2020, signaling a new norm for a region brought up on the vagaries of dramatic meteorological tension and the cleansing nurture of high natural acidity. Times change. “2015 certainly marks a change,” says Charles; this after the cooler 2014 and the long, classic season of 2013. De trop for an already famously muscular wine such as Clos des Goisses? On the contrary, per Charles; at Goisses the pure chalk and thin topsoil excelled in the warm year; the wine is structured yet aromatically nuanced. Indeed, it is the aromatic quality of these youthful 2015s that most impresses Charles, who is clearly enamored of the vintage. These wines may well have the staying power of, say, the 1988 or the 1995, but they also have the subtle textural weave of 2008 or 2002. Just when you least expect it, just what you least expect.
Goisses is celebrated, of course, as the first commercially recognized single-vineyard Champagne, courtesy of Charles’s great uncle, who first made the wine (“Goisses” before it earned its formal “Clos” identifier) in 1935, when the region was still struggling in the shadow of phylloxera, World War I, and significant economic hardship. In the interim, acquisition has secured the monopole status; 1935’s 2.5ha (6 acres) has now become 5.85ha (14.45 acres), divided into a jigsaw of lieux-dits and 14 distinct plots, 11 of which are devoted to Pinot Noir. The slope on this, the so-called Mont de Mareuil, is relatively steep, at 45 degrees, and the altitude of the vineyard climbs from 280ft to 425ft (85–130m), all facing the midday sun and all basking in the reflected glory of the River Marne at its roots. With an average temperature of around 3°F (1.5°C) above average throughout the growing season, this plot is demonstrably a monopole of distinction. Charles, since his “arrival” (return to the family seat puts it better) in 1999, has added a little oak to the vinification process (not to excess and mainly using three- to four-year-old barrels), has usually eschewed the malolactic fermentation, and has settled on a dosage of either 4.25 or 4.5g/l. The vineyard is the cynosure here, one infers, and ripeness, one can be sure, is all. Ripeness is seldom difficult to achieve at Clos des Goisses.
Related
In 2015, we also have a second outing for La Rémissonne Cuvée, its first being in 2009, a block of Pinot Noir from the upper terrace of Goisses, whose fruit sometimes features in the Juste Rosé. Charles was particularly impressed by the quality of this fruit in 2015 and felt that the label deserved a second outing, even if no one is quite sure of the origin or meaning of its name. The wine is the most austere of the three and will certainly need time to blossom. The Léon cuvée—this one sourced in Aÿ, therefore not specifically part of the Goisses terroir—is more agile, tense, and open, the higher proportion of chalk contributing to the more gregarious style. La Rémissonne has deeper soil, with clay more dominant in its structure. It is worthy of note that the other Goisses cuvée, Les Cintres, which is often bottled separately, will also be displayed in 2015 but only after a longer tirage. Goisses in 2015 will therefore be the first vintage to offer a triptych, but the volumes of the pretenders are relatively insignificant (2,710 bottles of La Rémissonne, for example) so as not to dilute the key message in any sense.
Aÿ le nom, Mareuil le bon, goes the saying, presumably coined in the village that has still, mysteriously, to earn grand cru status. The mystery falls into ever sharper focus in the face of Philipponnat’s splendid gifts from 2015.
Tasting
2015 La Rémissonne Mareuil-sur-Aÿ
(100% Pinot Noir; disgorged March 2024; dosage 4.25g/l)
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Deep color, with a tinge of pink. Intriguing aromatics, with dried apricot ceding to verbena and bergamot. The clay soil has conspired with the Pinot Noir to stain the palate with attractive red fruit and a pinch of spice. Potpourri comes to mind, with a teasing lick of vanilla on the finish, which effortlessly undermines that twist of austerity and points to a gradual and felicitous revelation. | 92–94
2015 Le Léon Aÿ Grand Cru
(100% Pinot Noir; disgorged March 2024; dosage 4.25g/l)
Sharing a similar color, this is less reserved and stony-faced than La Rémissonne. Chalk is far more prominent than clay here, and the wine is more generous of structure, with notes of orange blossom and honeysuckle complementing the citric base and the pleasing underlying chalky tension. Charles advises that this wine often shares aromatics with red pepper, and sure enough, with a little time in glass, this proves to be the case. Spicy, then, but not lacking fruit, autolytic integrity, and an impressive finish. | 93–95
2015 Clos des Goisses
(78% Pinot Noir, 22% Chardonnay; disgorged March 2024; dosage 4.5g/l)
Powerful of hue and structure, this is a monumental Goisses, hitherto somewhat “austere,” to borrow Charles’s mot du jour. This is perfectly normal in a big beast only recently bottled. The blend is fairly classic for Goisses (2011 was 100% Pinot Noir, but that was unusual), with the red fruit and the savory subtext both persuasive. We are treated to plums, kirsch, and even a hint of marmalade behind the bergamot. Youthful reduction blows off quickly, but there is a carapace of smoke and even incense evidenced. A powerful minerality pervades, the Chardonnay adding to the linearity and etching foreshadowed elegance. A keeper. | 94–96
2014 Clos des Goisses Juste Rosé
(80% Pinot Noir, 20% Chardonnay; disgorged March 2024; dosage 4.5g/l)
The rosé is now made by a combination of saignée and assemblage, thereby ensuring “control” over color and structure, but also underwriting a texture that is both supple and elegant. Archetypal Goisses, therefore, albeit from a distinctly cooler year, which makes this one stand out from the muscular 2015s on display. It still has the gravitas and weight of fruit to make an excellent foil to a dish of slow-roasted pigeon and fig, however, its savory and spicy core buttressing the exuberant red fruit with distinction. | 94–95
1999 LV Clos des Goisses
(59% Pinot Noir, 41% Chardonnay; disgorged March 2024; dosage 4.25g/l)
1999 was solaire and relatively low in acidity; the LV, I feel, is marked by both of these characteristics, with the sun having set long ago and the acidity now in short supply. The nose recalls truffles and mushrooms, ancient libraries and the hearthside deep into the night. The vestigial fruit is attractive if a little muted by umami notes; nougat and hazelnut eventually waft from the glass, somewhat enigmatically. Charles advises that the wine reminds him of late-disgorged equivalents from 1982, 1964, and 1924. The Champagne experts in the room all fall silent—a sure sign of acquiescence, one would have thought. | 91
