Philipponnat Cuvée 1522 Grand Cru Vintage '12 |Vintage |2012

Philipponnat Cuvée 1522 Grand Cru Vintage '12

Vintage 2012

$175.00

- Exclusively Grands Crus. 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay.

- Aged for eight years. After this time, the freshness is still apparent, but the benefit of aging on lees has reached full potential.

- Aged 8 years on lees

This is a particularly mature style of Champagne, rich and biscuity. With fresh acidity, and a dry finish, this is definitely a food Champagne.

Light gold in colour. A fresh nose with aromas of sweet almond, and notes of candied lemon peel, dried cranberries and red fruit jellies. Concentrated and precise, it is very representative of 2012.

Fresh and pure, the palate expresses notes of spices that are typical of the Ay terroir. The texture is chalky, and the finish is very mineral.

Technical details

Exclusively Grands Crus. 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay. The Pinot Noir comes from their vineyard at “Le Léon” in Ay, and in Mailly, and the Chardonnay from Verzy. A portion of the wines are vinified in wooden barrels without malolactic fermentation to preserve the wine’s freshness, allowing it to develop complexity. Both ample and tangy, this cuvée is eminently suitable for low dosage, extra brut, with only 4.25 g/litre, which is just one third of the conventional dosage for a brut champagne.

Club Price $166.25 (?) ?

One of the most underrated champagnes in our humble opinion. Philipponnat is a house of outstanding quality from their entry level Royale Reserve Brut all the way through to their iconic Clos des Goisses Vintages. This premium producer picks fruit with maximum ripeness and focus on pinot noir fruit with power. All this ripeness is balanced with a long, cool fermentation and some wines being blocked from malo-lactic fermentation, whilst being fermented in oak barrels. Careful blending of base wines complete the work of art on non-vintage cuvées with approximately 30% of reserve wines being added.

Reserve wines are aged in a perpetual Solera system with new wines being added to older wines every year, continuously adding more complexity and depth to young cuvées.

Its very dry character makes this extra brut cuvée a superb accompaniment to seafood and poached or grilled fish. Its dryness also contrasts well with the fattiness of poultry such as capon. Even bolder matches can be made with caviar or very spicy dishes such as Indian tandoori.

About the house

Reserve wines are aged in a perpetual Solera system with new wines being added to older wines every year, continuously adding more complexity and depth to young cuvées.