Website: https://www.philipponnat.com/
During a delightful lunch at the renowned Clove Club, I had the opportunity to reconnect with Charles Philipponnat alongside a small group of fellow industry professionals and journalists. Charles introduced us to the single-origin cuvées from the 2015 vintage. To kick things off, we started with the remarkable Royale Reserve NV, which is crafted mainly from the 2019 vintage. I’ve previously shared my thoughts on this wine here. This cuvée is among the finest non-vintage blends available at its price, serving as a fantastic introduction to the Philipponnat range. The blend incorporates 34% reserve wine sourced from two perpetual blends that are regularly updated with new and reserve wines, aged in 228-litre, 500-litre barrels, and foudre. Although Philipponnat is a relatively small house, they still manage to produce around 800,000 bottles annually.
In addition to tasting Clos des Goisses, we also enjoyed La Rémisonne and Le Léon, which presented a beautiful contrast in terms of site and grape variety. As a special delight, we sampled the Clos des Goisses Juste Rosé 2014 and the 1999 LV Clos des Goisses, made in the last vintage before Charles took over (he blended it, but the wine was produced prior to a significant overhaul of the cellar and the winemaking process at Philipponnat).
The 2015 vintage experienced dry and often warm conditions, which were beneficial since dry years can sometimes lead to overly astringent wines. The ripeness from the warmth of the vintage helped to balance this effect. All three single-site cuvées boasted alcohol levels exceeding 13%, necessitating a special derogation. These wines are robust, expressive, and possess a fresh structure; malolactic fermentation was intentionally avoided to maintain acidity. The relatively low acidity means that astringency plays a key role in providing the necessary structure.
We had the opportunity to learn about the composition of the Philipponnat liqueur d’expedition, which is utilized for adding dosage to the wines. This liqueur consists of new wine from the previous year’s base vintage, enriched with 650 g/l of 100% refined sugar. The Brut wines receive 1 cl of this liqueur, while the vintage wines get 0.5 cl.
Champagne Philipponnat La Rémisonne Mareuil-sur-Ay Extra-Brut 2015
This wine comes from a plot situated just above Clos des Goisses. It extends the upper terrace, oriented slightly more westward and has deeper soils with additional clay content. Disgorged in March 2024, it offers a fine, fresh, structured, and intense profile with remarkable precision in the lemon and red cherry flavors, showcasing both elegance and strength. The wine’s freshness is paired with fine tapering lemony acidity and a subtle structure. It possesses a crystalline quality, is well-defined, and expands gracefully in the mouth, exhibiting exceptional length. 97/100
Champagne Philipponnat Le Léon Ay Grand Cru Extra-Brut 2015
This wine is sourced from a single parcel in Ay, renowned for its chalkier soil and pronounced slope. With less topsoil, the wine displays more tension; in cooler vintages, it can exhibit spicy notes akin to ginger, while in balanced vintages, it tends to take on a pepperier character. Warm years may reveal curry-like flavors alongside red peppers. This wine is vibrant and alive, with beautiful shape and structure in the mouth, showcasing lemon and cherry fruit enriched with hints of aniseed and pure lemony acidity that resonates at the back and sides of the palate. It is pure and finely chiseled, boasting a lovely line of acidity. 96/100
Champagne Philipponnat Clos des Goisses Extra-Brut 2015
This vineyard is located on a steep south-facing slope characterized by eroded, chalky soils. Clos des Goisses comprises 14 parcels and is primarily planted with Pinot Noir (78%) and Chardonnay (22%). This warm incline possesses lean, mineral-rich soils due to topsoil erosion. The wine is notably fine and crystalline, offering powerful lemon and cherry fruit. Its vibrancy is highlighted by bright lemon and mandarin flavors, coupled with exceptional precision. This wine exhibits a dynamic range, presenting a touch of toastiness alongside the finely structured cherry and lemon notes. It requires some time to fully develop but already reveals impressive potential. 97/100
Champagne Philipponnat Juste Rosé Clos des Goisses 2014
‘Juste’ translates to ‘hardly’ in this instance. The inaugural edition in 1999 consisted of a base wine that combined both red and white wines. After several years, the decision was made to enhance the red wine component by employing a bleeding technique, as they discovered that prolonged maceration resulted in undesirable green notes and excessive tannins. However, they realized that the saignée wine produced through this method was quite unique, leading them to use the skin-fermented red for the rosé NV and 1522 rosé, while reserving the bled juice for this particular wine, which has proven to age remarkably well. This wine spends between 24 to 36 hours on the skins. The 2014 vintage yielded generous results and experienced a cool harvest, reminiscent of traditional vintages. It has a delicate pale pink hue with a touch of orange, showcasing precision and a linear profile, along with lovely crystalline fruit. You’ll find notes of red cherry and cranberry, complemented by a hint of lemon, culminating in a tangy finish with exceptional clarity. 96/100
Champagne Philipponnat « L.V. » Clos des Goisses 1999
LV denotes Longue Viellisement, indicating that this wine spent 24 years on its lees, being released 25 years post-harvest. The 1999 harvest yielded a cool climate, producing an abundance of healthy grapes—a hallmark of old-fashioned vintages. According to Charles, ‘The best vintages over time are not necessarily the most intense, but rather the purest.’ This particular wine, disgorged in March 2024, is still exhibiting reductive qualities and is expected to reach its peak in two years. It offers complexity, freshness, and depth with nuances of red cherry, along with hints of fresh mushrooms and porcini. It is elegantly fine, exhibiting subtle toastiness and a pleasing acidity. Overall, it showcases a crystalline quality. 95/100
For further reading on Philipponnat, including insights into its ownership from an earlier article written in 2012, click here.