First taste: Gosset Celebris Blanc de Blancs 2012

‘I always like to remind people that Gosset is above all a wine producer and not just a classic Champagne house.’

This is how Odilon de Varine begins his presentation of Maison Gosset, where he is both cellar master and deputy managing director. Indeed, as de Varine explains, at this historic house founded in 1584 attention is keenly focused on producing outstanding base wines using such vinification techniques as ‘pumping over in vats during vinification, a deliberate choice to avoid malolactic fermentation to maintain vivacity, while also favouring a long élevage or maturation process on lees that will enable the Champagnes to acquire more depth and power.’

Scroll down to see the tasting note and score for Gosset Celebris Blanc de Blancs 2012

In accordance with this set of underlying principles, Odilon de Varine kept his patience for almost nine years for this new cuvée while the base wines aged on lees before choosing to release the very first vintage blanc de blancs produced by Gosset, one that bears the name that the house gives to its prestige bottlings: Celebris.

This first opus – which is composed of 100% Chardonnay – is all the more remarkable in being from the stellar 2012 vintage.

‘In 2012, we had superb Chardonnays having a truly chalky and limestone-infused character, so I set out to retain, but especially highlight, that aspect by producing a blanc de blancs’ explained de Varine on the occasion of this new Champagne release.

Needless to say, there is a consensus that 2012 is a very great vintage in Champagne, even if, as de Varine reminds us, ‘it started out as a remake of the challenging vintage that was 2011. When harvest time was approaching, we were worried about there being such a repeat experience, but fortunately, the weather changed for the better.’ The rest is history, as they say, and 2012 has become one of the most heralded vintages of the past decade.

It is well known that Gosset uses grapes acquired from many different sources and growers. Odilon de Varine and his team choose the base wines for their Champagnes based on their impressions during blind tastings.

For this 2012 Celebris Blanc de Blancs, it turned out that the final blend included grapes from ‘a relatively large number of villages, and this included villages that we would not normally have thought would make the cut for such a prestige cuvée, such as Passy-sur-Marne, for example’, says de Varine.

Gosset Celebris 2012 was thus elaborated using grapes from this unsung village, but also from Ambonnay, Avize, Cramant, Cumières, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Trépail, Vertus and Villers-Marmery.

Only 15,000 bottles of this Champagne are to be released. It was disgorged in March 2022 and received a dosage of 7g/L.

Gosset Celebris Blanc de Blancs retails in the UK between £200-£230 per 75cl bottle and is available from a number of retailers. See stockist information within the tasting note below.

Yohan Castaing’s tasting note and score for Gosset Celebris Blanc de Blancs 2012:

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