Christian Gosset
Les Pierres Robert
Blanc de Noirs Aÿ Grand Cru Champagne Extra-Brut 2019
Christian Gosset Les Pierres Robert
Blanc de Noirs Aÿ Grand Cru Champagne Extra-Brut 2019
Champagne Christian Gosset is a boutique project by one of the most experienced winemakers and family names synonymous with quality in the village of Aÿ in the Vallée de la Marne. The Christian Gosset style is aromatic, powerful, and structured, but always in search of finesse and elegance, with a common thread of verticality, precision, and intensity. Christian Gosset crafts gastronomic Champagnes destined to elevate world-class cuisine with a trademark long, complex finish. Christian’s ethos for his wines follows three tenets: typicity, precision, and pleasure.
Blanc de Noirs ‘Les Pierres Robert’ is made from a single, very special 0.32 hectare parcel of pinot noir located on the road that goes from Aÿ to Dizy. The vineyard lies directly next to Philiponnat’s famous single vineyard ‘Le Léon’ at a lower elevation on loamy topsoil over deep chalk.
Les Pierres Robert is immediately open and fruit-driven, with notes of wild fruits like blackberryand redcurrant. The palate is well-structured with a generous, creamy attack. The finish is long, intense and wonderfully mineral, typical of the Äy terroir. Accessible now, but will improve in bottle.
Vinification – Bunches are hand-picked in small baskets with a strict selection in the vineyard. Winemaking is low-impact and low-intervention. After pressing in a pneumatic press, the coeur de cuvée arrives by gravity directly into new and used 228L French barriques, where it undergoes both alcoholic and malolactic fermentation. The wine is only moved twice – once into the fermentation barrel and once into bottle. As Christian says, “let the wines ferment quietly and then we meet again in July for the bottling.” The wine remains in the barrel completely undisturbed for 11 months without bâtonnage until bottling, which is important as to avoid any oxidation. As a result, little to no sulfur is needed because the wine is not moved.
Les Pierres Robert produces six barrels of wine, and only one new barrel is introduced each year; the others are between two and five years-old, and all are produced by Tonnellerie de Champagne. Christian Gosset Champagnes are raw and natural, with no fining, filtering or cold-stabilization. He doesn’t feel the wine needs to be totally clear because disgorgement removes any potential sediment. All wines are aged in his cellar for a minimum of three years on the lees before disgorgement, regardless of the vintage.