1996 Extra-Brut Clos des Goisses
France
Mareuil Sur Aÿ
Champagne
Sparkling White
Pinot Noir, Chardonnay
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This wine was tasted informally at the Rusty Staub Charity Dinner, held in April 2015 at the Bouley Test Kitchen in New York City.
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2016 - 2046
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Philipponnat’s Clos des Goisses is one of Champagne’s most distinctive wines. Capable of aging effortlessly for decades, Clos des Goisses has built an enviable track record of successes, since it was first produced under the leadership of Pierre Philipponnat in 1935. Single-vineyard (parcellaire) Champagnes are all the rage today, but that was hardly the case eighty years ago.
Timing, they say, is everything. I was thrilled to be in San Francisco precisely on the day the Rare Wine Co. hosted this incredible tasting/dinner back to 1952 with Charles Philipponnat, because it was through Clos des Goisses that I was first introduced to the pure joy of fine, aged Champagne. With one exception, all of the bottles in this tasting were disgorged within the last few years and were sourced directly from the Philipponnat cellars. Charles Philipponnat explained that dosage was kept at 4.3 grams per liter for the sake of consistency. A handful of vintages were tasted from magnum, a magical format for all wines, but especially for Champagne, the only wine where the bottle is both a fermentation and an aging vessel.
Located on the slopes of Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, Clos des Goisses is a dramatic, south-facing site with inclines that approach 45 degrees. The soils are rich in chalk, which gives the wine much of its signature energy and overall tension. According to Charles Phillipponnat, ripeness in the Clos easily reaches a good 1.5% more than is common throughout Champagne, as the walls serve to trap the heat. The combination of southern exposure, chalky soils and warm microclimate yield powerful yet vibrant Champagnes of rare distinction. When Clos des Goisses is young, it is often intensely mineral, but as it ages, the textures become rich, mellow and vinous. In the very best years, Clos des Goisses matures gracefully and retains an aura of timelessness that is utterly mesmerizing.
Clos des Goisses began its life as a Chardonnay-based Champagne, but since 1964 the blend has favored Pinot Noir. In most vintages Clos des Goisses is around 65% Pinot Noir and 35% Chardonnay. Over the years, winemaking has naturally evolved quite a bit. Up until 1988 Clos des Goisses was fermented in older barrels of assorted sizes. Between 1989 and 1998, the wine was made in a combination of enameled steel and new, smaller foudres. In 1999 and 2000, Clos des Goisses was done entirely in steel until 2001, when new 228-liter barrels were introduced for a portion of the wine. The 2001 was the first vintage made with temperature-controlled steel tanks. In 2004, Philipponnat moved into their new winery in Mareuil. During this time, oak fermentation increased to 60-70% of the total blend, which is where things stand today. These changes and developments notwithstanding, what comes through most in this tasting is the singular, undeniable personality of Clos des Goisses.
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2016 - 2036
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This wine was part of a retrospective tasting 1996 Champagne – For The Ages.
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The best 1996 Champagnes remain epic, benchmark wines. From magnum, they are especially thrilling.
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Over the last few months I have had the chance to revisit a number of Champagnes from the celebrated 1996 vintage. My first retrospective on the 1996s, published last year, found many of the wines in great shape. Today, only a year later, a number of bottles are finally beginning to show hints of their ultimate potential. Many of these wines have been on the market for some time but only now, fourteen years after the harvest, is it possible to taste a complete range of the tête-de-cuvées from all of the major houses.
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This wine was tasted during collector Bruce Fingeret's birthday party, July 2010
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1996 remains one of the great modern-day vintages for Champagne. The wines possess a combination of bright acidity and high sugars that is extremely rare. The best 1996 Champagnes are bold, racy and exuberant, in both absolute and relative terms, something that has also come across in numerous recent tastings, including verticals of Dom Pérignon, Cristal, Krug and Dom Ruinart. For all of these houses 1996 is one of the more powerful, extroverted vintages of the last 15 or so years. To be sure, the vintage also has its critics. Those who are skeptical of the vintage claim that some producers harvested too early and that a number of wines possess excessively austere and lean personalities that will never soften. My experience with the Champagnes below and others, however, has mostly been extremely positive and I am convinced the best wines have enough balance of fruit and acidity to age gracefully, in some cases for decades.
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This wine was tasted as a part of wine collector Bruce Fingeret's 50th Birthday Party, July 2008.
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Also recommended: NV Royale Reserve Brut (86).
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