PORTRAIT - Champagne Philipponnat

The Philipponnat family's business has undergone many changes over the centuries. Moving from viticulture to wine trading and eventually specializing in winemaking, many of the original vineyards have been sold over time. Fortunately, some of the original plots acquired in 1522 are still owned by the company.

Proud of its noble Grand Cru and Premier Cru terroirs in the Grande Vallée de la Marne, on the southeastern slopes of the Montagne de Reims, the champagne house owns and operates 20 hectares of vines in the villages of Aÿ, Mareuil-sur-Aÿ and Avenay. Today, the champagne house is run by Charles Philipponnat, who preserves the terroirs and know-how handed down by his ancestors.

Much effort is devoted to preserving the centuries-old soils. With a deep respect for nature, the house applies natural methods to keep the fragile environment of its vineyards intact and thriving. These methods include hoeing by hand and ploughing with horses.

The power of finesse

Among the plethora of Champagne styles, Champagne Philipponnat stands out for a range of highly gastronomic champagnes, with powerful character and complex finesse. Most of their champagne blends are based on bold Pinot Noirs from expressive terroirs such as Aÿ, Mareuil-sur-Aÿ and Avenay.

A key element of the house's winemaking techniques is the so-called solera process. In this process, a quarter to a third of the reserve wine from previous vintages is blended with the wine from the new vintage and stored in oak barrels for use in future champagne blends.

Adding these reserve wines in solera to cuvées creates beautifully balanced champagnes with depth and complexity, such as the Royale cuvées. As a testament to the past, when the Philipponnat family's ancestors sold their wines to the court of Louis XIV, the three cuvées Royale Réserve Perpétuelle, Royale Réserve Non Dosé, and Royale Réserve Rosé are based on Pinot Noir and contain 25 to 35% of these reserve wines. After three to four years' bottle ageing, the champagnes already display exceptional depth and finesse.

Solera wines are also used to produce a range of vintage cuvées such as Blanc de Noirs, Grand Blanc and Sublime Réserve Sec.

Cuvée 1522: the heart of Champagne Philipponnat

Cuvée 1522 is the centerpiece of the Philipponnat champagne range. It is available in two versions: a cuvée blanche and a cuvée rosée.

Cuvée 1522 is made from a majority of Pinot Noir from Grand Cru Aÿ blended with a smaller proportion of Chardonnay from Grand Cru Verzy. Cuvée 1522 Rosé also includes some Pinot Noir from Grand Cru Mailly in its base blend, as well as red wine from the company's own plots in Mareuil-sur-Aÿ.

Cuvée 1522 is a powerful, concentrated champagne with aromas of dried fruit, racy spices and chalky freshness. And Cuvée 1522 rosé is just as sophisticated; a well-structured, slightly tannic rosé champagne with invigorating aromas of blood orange and spicy notes of pink pepper, which can stand up to intensely flavored dishes.

The two 1522 cuvées are partially vinified in oak barrels for greater complexity, and undergo bottle ageing for six to eight years before release.

Clos des Goisses: The house icon

The house's signature cuvée is the legendary single-vineyard Clos des Goisses, a vintage champagne of bold structure and refined detail, rich with warm aromatic depth, smooth texture and a vibrant, taut core of minerality.

The Clos des Goisses vineyard is located on a hillside in Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, on the north bank of the Marne, and is entirely surrounded by stone walls. A full southern exposure and a steep 45° slope down to the Marne create optimal conditions for the cultivation of ripe, aromatic grapes.

Acquired and first produced by Charles Philipponnat's father in 1935, Clos des Goisses is a blend of around 2/3 Pinot Noir - the king of Mareuil-sur-Aÿ vineyards - and 1/3 Chardonnay, although the proportions vary from vintage to vintage.

Spread over 5.5 hectares on a limestone bedrock, the vines are bathed in sunshine all day long. They benefit from a particularly warm microclimate and the tempering influence of the Marne, enabling them to ripen much earlier than other vineyards in the region. This extraordinary microclimate has enabled Champagne Philipponnat to produce the most sought-after cuvée of recent years, and only twelve complicated vintages have been skipped along the way.

Depending on the vintage, a large proportion of Clos des Goisses wines are vinified in wood to enhance their complexity. To balance the ripe, powerful nature of the wines, there is no malolactic fermentation.

After a minimum of eight years' bottle ageing in the Champagne Philipponnat cellars - some vintages benefit from considerably more time before being considered ready for release - the bottles are disgorged and a low dosage is carefully chosen according to the expression of the vintage.

The house's signature vineyard is vinified in two distinct cuvées: Clos des Goisses and Clos des Goisses Juste Rosé. Lovers of great bottles will no doubt be pleased to learn that Envie de Champagne even offers magnums or jeroboams of this prestigious cuvée.

Rare pearls: a trio of plot-based champagnes

In addition to its famous Clos des Goisses, Champagne Philipponnat has released three other parcel-based champagnes over the years. These wines are all made from 100% Pinot Noir, highlighting the distinction of their most exceptional terroirs, and are only bottled in great vintages. Le Léon is made from a parcel in the village of Aÿ (Grand Cru), La Rémissonne from a parcel adjacent to Clos des Goisses in the village of Mareuil-sur-Aÿ (Premier Cru). Les Cintres is vinified from two central parcels of Clos des Goisses, named Les Grands Cintres and Les Petits Cintres.

For a thirst-quenching insight into the work of Champagne Philipponnat and a glimpse of their impressive terroirs, we recommend watching the Champagne Philipponnat short film.

PHOTOS: The preservation of know-how plays an important role at Champagne Philipponnat © Photo: Champagne Philipponnat / Which cuvée would you like to taste? © Photo: Champagne Philipponnat / The Clos des Goisses vineyard © Photo: Champagne Philipponnat