Another utterly captivating wine, the 1952 Clos des Goisses (magnum) presents an alluring mélange of ash, game, tobacco, smoke, wild flowers and dried apricots, all in the rich, vinous style that exemplifies mature Clos des Goisses. Layers of flavor build to a huge, effortless finish built on pure resonance. This is another wine that simply defies age. The 1952 is naturally more mature in its flavors than the 1964 tasted alongside it, but it is every bit as compelling. Indeed, readers who enjoy fully mature Champagnes might very well prefer the 1952. This is just about as good as it gets. Disgorged September 2008.

The legendary reputation of the 1952 Extra Brut Clos des Goisses is well-known among Champagne insiders; and even though I hadn't tasted it for over a decade until this happy reencounter in 2020, I knew that, should I encounter it again, it would merit the highest possible score that a wine can achieve in this publication. Blossoming in the glass with scents of caramelized lemon rind, woodsmoke, green figs, Indian spices, saffron, smoke and peach, it's full-bodied, immensely layered and textural, its satiny attack segueing into a fleshy, explosively aromatic and elegantly muscular mid-palate, complemented by a delicate pearly mousse and concluding with a penetrating, perfumed finish. The result of tiny yields after spring frosts, the 1952 is mostly Chardonnay, vinified in a mix of demi-muids and foudres, and this bottle was disgorged in 2008 with 4.5 grams per liter dosage. Mature Champagne doesn't get much better.