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$174
“Disgorged in February 2020 with 4.5 grams per liter dosage, the 2012 Extra-Brut Grand Cru Cuvée 1522 is already showing beautifully, unwinding in the glass with hints of golden orchard fruit, fresh peach, honeycomb and blanched almonds. Full-bodied, vinous and concentrated, it’s elegantly muscular, with terrific depth at the core, racy acids and a seamless profile. Given its very recent disgorgement, it’s surprisingly open, but it will nonetheless reward bottle age.”
William Kelley
Out of stock
In 2000, Charles created Cuvée 1522, conceived as a blend of top vineyards representing the soul of the house. Its name commemorates the year that Charles’ family became growers in Aÿ and showcases the Pinot Noir from one of the village’s most-prized vineyards, Le Léon.
This sun-drenched site has, for centuries, produced great Pinot Noir. But, for this prestige cuvée—and, based on his experience making Clos des Goisses—Charles believed that an even greater wine would be made by marrying the richness of approximately 60% Pinot Noir from Le Léon with the minerality of 40% Chardonnay from great Côte des Blancs terroirs. Its profound richness and complexity have quickly placed Cuvée 1522 among Champagne’s elite tête de cuvées.
Exclusively Grands Crus. 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay. The Pinot Noir comes from our vineyard at “Le Léon” in Ay, and in Mailly, and the Chardonnay from Verzy.
A portion of the wines are vinified in wooden barrels without malolactic fermentation to preserve the wine’s freshness, allowing it to develop complexity. Both ample and tangy, this cuvée is eminently suitable for low dosage, extra brut, with only 4.25 g/litre, which is just one third of the conventional dosage for a brut champagne.
Philipponnat is one of the last houses to be run by a member of its founding family. And Charles Philipponnat is a true Champenois, descended from winemakers, cellarmasters and growers dating back nearly 600 years.
Champagne is in Charles’ blood, which helps to explain Philipponnat’s recent resurgence. Twenty years ago, the house was known largely for one wine: the iconic Clos des Goisses, which in the 1930s became the region’s first important single-vineyard Champagne.
But under Charles, Philipponnat has created a whole portfolio of great wines. These range from two of Champagne’s finest non-vintage bruts—Royale Réserve and Reserve Rosé—to an expanding number of exceptional Champagnes de terroir. And, of course, the offerings culminate in the towering Clos des Goisses. These make for a portfolio that is, as Peter Liem has written, “one of the finest in Champagne.”
Charles was born to make Champagne. His family grew grapes here as early as 1522, and his father René was chef de caves at Moët from 1949 to 1977—responsible for 1961 Dom Pérignon among other legends.
“This has been one of my favorite Champagne sources for many years.”
Allen Meadows
Since taking over in 1999, Charles has returned Philipponnat to its last Golden Age, 1913-1962, when Louis Boland was chef de caves. Boland’s wines were the essence of Pinot Noir from the house’s vineyards in the Montagne de Reims. Charles’ Champagnes also fully exploit these prized vineyards, and the resulting wines revel in their Pinot-infused glory.
For this offer these words are relevant for the 2009 ‘La Rémissonne’ and the 2008 ‘Les Cintres’ made from parcels, Lieux Dits, within the Clos des Goisses.
I made sparkling wine in Australia and Champagne in France. The first time you put 100,000 bottles away for their second fermentation is an experience of elation and trepidation in one. Until that second fermentation is finished you live on the knife’s edge of having stuffed up years of work or created that sparkle we all love!
Then comes the next set of decision: How do I store these bottles? How long do I wait before riddling them? How long will I leave them in contact with the lees (dead yeast from the second ferment)?
Philopponnat’s L.V. range is certainly pushing the envelope. With wines on lees for decades. Producers like Provost prefer absolute minimum time on lees believing the expression of the terroir will be diminished by time on lees. Personally I call what’s in the glass. Some of the most profound experience I’ve had involved Late Disgorged wines.
The pic below left shows champagne Sur Lie with maximum area of lees to wine contact. The pic on the right shows wines that have been shifted to being Sur Pointe (on point) for extend maturation. This shifts the lees into the neck of the bottle reducing the surface area of lees exposed to the wine and slowing the development of autolysis characters from the break down of yeast.
The environment in the bottle with all oxygen consumed by the yeast, 6.5 bar of pressure from a wine saturated with CO2, and, the reductive nature of the yeast lees, keeps the wine fresh. As time passes the wines harmonise, offering more depth of the mid-palate and build additional layers of complexity, the become seamless.
I’ve been lucky enough to bottle several vintages of sparkling wine, I still have magnums from the 1999 vintage on lease, and, uncovered a forget stash of bottles from 1998 just a week ago.
I love hand riddling these and disgorging them to drink immediately without dosage or resealing. The present such incredible freshness and pleasure!
Philipponnat’s 20 hectares of vines, situated at the heart of the Champagne wine-growing area in Aÿ, Mareuil-sur-Aÿ and Avenay, are classified Premier and Grand Cru. Philipponat works to preserve these precious and fragile, centuries-old terroirs, by using natural methods to work the soil, hoeing by hand and ploughing with horses. THe Hous has found the best possible way to renew its traditions while perpetuating the best they have to offer. Emphasis is pout on conservation and meeting challenges to unceasingly improve the quality of the wines.
Clos des Goisses is a parcel of 11 Lieux Dits. Gois or Goisse meaning very steep gives us the first clue to the site. Yes it is very steep running at 45º. Facing due south the pure chalk slope receives sun for the full day. The warmth of the Clos des Goisses typically offers higher potential alcohol for the fruit, and, powerfull intense wines.
Philipponnat, has vineyards in Aÿ, Mareuil-sur-Aÿ and Avenay.
Click to enlarge🔎
Click on a map to enlarge🔎
For an in-depth history of the vineyard and its wines, along with a summary of the wine growing and winemaking, please see the link below.
World of Fine Wine Goisses June 2008
Disgorged in February 2020 with 4.5 grams per liter dosage, the 2012 Extra-Brut Grand Cru Cuvée 1522 is already showing beautifully, unwinding in the glass with hints of golden orchard fruit, fresh peach, honeycomb and blanched almonds. Full-bodied, vinous and concentrated, it's elegantly muscular, with terrific depth at the core, racy acids and a seamless profile. Given its very recent disgorgement, it's surprisingly open, but it will nonetheless reward bottle age.
The 2012 Extra-Brut Cuvée 1522 is creamy, rich and expansive, with striking resonance that builds with time in the glass. Baked apple tart, spice and warm toasty notes are front and center. The 2010 is not super-complex, but it is flat-out delicious, and a real pleasure to taste. Dosage is 4.5 grams per liter.
Where in the world does the magic happen?
Champagne Philipponnat, Rue du Pont, Mareuil-sur-Ay, France
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