Aromas of bread dough, mandarin, strawberry, raspberry and light dry earth follow through to a full body with lightly candied fruit, phenolic tension and a clear, bright finish. Mineral. Pure. Dry and layered at the end with a note of chalk. No malo. 61% pinot noir and 39% chardonnay. Drink now.

The 2012 Extra-Brut Clos des Goisses is a Champagne of extraordinary elegance and finesse. Silky and aromatic, the 2012 impresses with its mid-weight, refined personality. Hints of kirsch, red plum, flowers and chamomile open gently in the glass. Clos des Goisses is often a rich, vinous Champagne, but the 2012 comes across as restrained and understated in all the right ways. Its aging potential will be measured in decades not years. Sadly, severe spring frost took with it a startling 50% of the crop. According to Charles Philipponnat Pinot fared better than Chardonnay. Ultimately, though, the Goisses blend is a typical two-thirds Pinot and one-third Chardonnay. Dosage is 4.5 grams per liter.

Disgorged in April 2021 with the usual 4.5 grams per liter dosage, Philipponnat's 2012 Extra-Brut Clos des Goisses offers up generous aromas of pear, pomelo and peach mingled with hints of honeycomb, macadamia nut and fresh bread. Full-bodied, broad and vinous, it's fleshy and textural, with a strikingly concentrated core of fruit, compelling mid-palate plenitude, bright acids and a pillowy pinpoint mousse. Demonstrative, even dramatic, its youthful generosity is deceptive, as it's only with some bottle age that real complexity will emerge.

The 2012 Champagne Clos de Goisses is true to character and is the most opulent and decadent expression. It is flush with a generous perfume and liqueur, with ripe apricot brûlée, toasted brioche, raspberry eau de vie, and saline. The palate is round and full, though light on its feet, with kirsch and a chalky texture. Its salinity makes up for the more modest acidity and contributes to a compelling and savory wine. Drink over the next 20-25 years.

Fragrant and complex, this combines a full, ripe depth with a chalky, linear tension, its fruit balanced between a primary freshness and developed complexity. It’s generous in build, showing the ripeness of the vintage, yet it still feels closed, needing time to reveal its full potential. This is built for ageing, and it should enjoy a long and slow development. Disgorged: August 2021.

Pale oyster shell and lemon colour, delicate shortbread biscuit and elderflower notes on the opening beats. A lovely sense of weight and expression, everything poised and with a sense of being driven forward by the fresh acidities. As things open, you get quince, raspberry pips, fleshy white pear, and a cloud of white blossom and violet flowers. Overall a sense that it grows in power and length, and this is a gorgeous Champagne with its distinctive and powerful house style. Dosage 4.5g (this is always the case with Philipponnat). 60% aged in Burgundy barrels, 40% in stainless steel tanks, no malo. A small yield after a cold winter and spring, then cool weather at flowering made for a small yield, with just 13,000 bottles (around half the most generous years). No malo, 3.08ph. Racking once, only at the time of blending. Blended and bottled May 2013, disgorged April 2021

This has the lovely ripe Clos des Goisses style in full: aromas of apricot, honey and toast. It is rich and concentrated and yet still has excellent freshness. Jorez points to an aroma of raspberry seed, which is spot on. I pick up raspberry sorbet and a hint of ginger as it opens in the glass. It is intense and fresh in the mouth, gently toasty. Rounded, deep and long with a lovely fruit sweetness. Creamy, powerful and yet seems gentle next to the late disgorged 1996 LV. This was a great accompaniment to truffle flatbread on the evening I tasted it. Still so young and with great ageing potential. Drink 2021 - 2037
Julia Harding MW - Sept 2021