Champagne Gosset, Grande Réserve, Brut

40% Chardonnay, 40% Pinot Noir and 20% Pinot Meunier. Winemaker Odilon de Varine. TA 7.8 g/l, pH 3, RS 9 g/l. Vegan. Natural cork. Bottle weight 1,045 g.

Champagne Gosset work with around 200 growers who, between them, have approximately 120 hectares, mainly around the premier and grand cru vineyards surrounding Épernay. Each cru vinified separately, with no filtration and aged on fine lees. Malo is avoided, and dosage is kept low, as is the style of the house. Lots of age on the nose and depth on the palate. Still quite youthful!

Drink 2023 - 2027

The NV Grande Reserve Brut, which is 45% Chardonnay, 45% Pinot Noir, and the rest Pinot Meunier and 8 g/l dosage, is lifted with tropical and citrus fruit, including lychee, orange blossom, and lime. Juicy and medium-bodied, with tangerine and mango, it is a solid entry to the range.

The oldest wine house in Champagne, established by Pierre Gosset in 1584 in Ay, Gosset, was purchased by Reynaud-Cointreau in 1993. Today, the chef de cave is Odilon de Varine, formerly of Deutz and Henriot, and the philosophy is to adapt to each year and avoid getting stuck in the past. Each of the growers’ plots is fermented separately, and malolactic fermentation is entirely blocked, working with the lees to create roundness in the wines instead.

The house has gradually shifted from being predominantly a Pinot Noir house to that of Chardonnay. Total annual production is approximately 1 million bottles, though they can produce 1.5 million. They hold a considerable stock of reserve wine for 60 years, alleviating the pressures to put out more quantity. The 2008 bottlings of Celebris tasted here represent only the eighth release of that cuvée. 

Drink 2022 - 2028

The NV Grande Réserve is a gorgeous entry-level wine from Gosset. Crisp, dry and resonant, the Grande Réserve offers lovely textural depth to play off the more mineral-driven notes that are so typical of the Gosset house style. All the elements come together nicely in this effortless, gracious mid-weight Champagne. This is very nicely done. Dosage is 8 grams per liter.

Drink 2017 - 2024

This has attractive aromas of apricots, pie crust, raspberries, fresh walnuts and pears, with a hint of white pepper and ginger. Elegant, fine and supple mousse with a medium body and creamy layers of fresh fruit and pastries. It's so dry and clean. 

Aromas of crisp orchard fruit, pear and apricot, mingled with hints of fresh bread and pastry, introduce the latest release of Gosset's NV Brut Grande Réserve, a medium to full-bodied, fleshy but incisive wine that's deceptively generous but also structured to reward some bottle age.

Drink 2021 - 2031

The nose opens with the fresh ripeness of yellow apple and highlights of Granny Smith. It has beautifully subtle autolysis on the palate, deepening into notes of creamy apple crumble, Golden Delicious and Mirabelle plum, while remaining utterly strait-laced. Elegance, length and absolute freshness are inherent and quietly convincing.

Drink 2019 - 2028