While Burgundy claims the single-vineyard crown, Clos des Goisses has been known with its exceptional grapes f...

While Burgundy claims the single-vineyard crown, Clos des Goisses has been known with its exceptional grapes for over 400 years. Now, let’s dive into the less sexy side of the story. This monopole has been in Philipponnat family for about a century. They were bottling it as single-vineyard Champagne even before WWII. But Philipponat is a part of a huge company, Lancon-BCC group now. So it’s not the story of a young and ambitious winemaker. Why am I celebrating it? Grower Champagne is hot, I still can’t overlook this bottle. Since 1988, they’ve consistently crafted single-cru, single-vintage, Clos des Goisses, every year, without fail! This mentality sounds familiar, right? Just not so tempting if it’s coming from a somewhat bigger house. The 2000 vintage, waited 13 years for bottling (disgorged in November 2013), limited to fewer than 1,000 bottles. So again, it’s not about mass production… On the nose, it opens intensely with toasty sweet notes and red fruit that almost warm you up. The palate is very lean and focused, dominated by chalkiness. Warming spices, vanilla, toffee, almonds, hazelnuts, and cocoa powder coat the tongue, while chalky minerality and persistent acidity cleanse the palate, leaving you eager for the next sip. This wine is serious in appearance, though, forbidding any “glou-glou” notions. Earthiness emerges slowly beneath the spices and fruit, without excessive umami. Dried citrus zest catches up. And the straightforwardness of Chardonnay (35% of it) is strong enough to make a leaner wine out of this intense nose. The acidity is so powerful, keeps every single sip dynamic. Blind, I guessed it came from Montagne de Reims, thinking of Egly-Ouriet for its subtle dosage (now the taste is bone dry) and stylistic character: no big house boldness nor pure grower vibes. And it clearly spent long time in barrels without aiming excessive oxi-style. Clos des Goisses actually shows everything that makes Champagne a serious wine: aromatic depth, challenging structure, generosity when it comes to agelessness, if you can free your mind a bit. #iconicwine #champagnestudy #closdesgoisses