After a well deserved summer break, The Champagnebar by Richard Juhlin will open this Friday. We start with a new house Champagne – from Gosset in Aÿ – ‘Grande Reserve’.
Aÿ | Champagne | Frankrike | Swedish imposter Espumante AB | SBnr 87661 | SEK 409
TASTING NOTE ‘A rich, oily champagne with tons of ripe apples and a fleshy Pinot flavour. It is only in the finish which is rich in mineral that one can detect the Chardonnay grapes. A wonderfully opulent standard champagne and always one of the best. With aging it gets filld with sweet almond and nutty aromas.’ RJ points 84(90)
RJ ON GOSSET Ruinart might be the oldest Champagne-producing firm, but Gosset made still wines much earlier. Pierre Gosset sold his “vin d’Aÿ” as a négociant as early as 1584. Today the family owns twelve hectares in the villages of Aÿ, Bouzy, Mareuil, and Rilly, all stocked up with Pinot Noir. This is only enough for 20 per cent of their needs, but the character of the villages is clearly apparent in their vintage wines.
Gosset is one of the true traditionalists of the region, with labelling and disgorging being done manually. They also use old oak barrels in which they store their vintage wines for a brief period of time, thus imparting just a hint of oak character to the wine. The wines are always full-bodied and rich, with a great element of Aÿ Pinot and high-class Chardonnay. The winemaker is the ingenious Jean-Pierre Mareignier. In 1994, after more than 400 years of family ownership, Gosset was sold to the family group Renaud-Cointreau, which owns Cognac Pierre Frapin Grande Champagne.
As Gosset is known and appreciated by initiated wine-lovers the world over, they can increase their international presence while still keeping their high quality. The distinctive cuvées are served at the finest restaurants. The vintage wines are especially enjoyable with the ethereal ’52 as a milestone—it won third prize at the Millennium Tasting! One of the absolute foremost domains in the Champagne region. The Célebris Blanc de Blancs is an utterly marvellous wine that turns ones thoughts to Krug Clos du Mesnil in combination with Charles Heidsieck and of course the finer vintages from Gosset. They have chosen to make this magical wine non-vintage with a great proportion of reserve wines and long storage leading to an almost perfect maturity at release. The wine has a powerful volume and simultaneously equilibristic delicacy. Sweet pineapple, orange, apricot and honey with a nutty base to the taste and freezia, hawthorn and almond in the aroma. Brilliant!
