GossetÉpernay

Producer profile
PL Oldest producer in Champagne, tracing its ancestry to 1584. Same chef de cave for 33 years until 2016. 99% grapes are purchased from 200 growers in 60 villages, each parcel kept separate during fermentation in stainless steel. No malolactic like Lanson. Skip Brut Excellence but seek out all other cuvées. TyS 7/10 house style of "clean-cut structure and enduring longevity". ToS 89 "value", house style has "a lot of character, spine, and intensity. But, due to their general dryness and non-malo nature, they are not for every taste." Grande Réserve is "refined, with a lovely depth of flavor." It is a "profoundly serious wine, capable of great complexity and smooth, biscuity richness."

Tasting notes

Grand Rosé. Unusual bottle shape and label. Easy and rotund fresh cork. Bursts of bubbles in the glass like fireworks. Color of hot-smoked salmon, mismatching the bubblegum pink of the label. Pleasantly autolytic and quite dry with a hint of red gooseberries. Purchased at Federal Wine in spring 2020 for $77. ⭐

Millésime 2006. 10.5 on the lees (!) Bottle code L530 7112. See TyS critique of this cuvée, he writes that it's "now in the dim twilight of its glory days." Strong cellar or oxidative character that dissipates with time in the glass, transforming into appealing sherry, walnut, and pear associations. Comfortable dosage on the sweeter side. This wine has a spicy aspect with a momentary capsicum nuance. It is deeply aged and meaningful like the memory of a grandmother's house, aged puer tea, dark bread, that kind of stuff. The afterglow in the empty glass is splendid! Although acidity is present, it does feel a touch thin somehow. A little salty in a nice way. Purchased at Gordon's in autumn 2020 for $80. ⭐