Thank you. What is their pricing on the magnum?
Thanks, Brad. If Gosset has, in fact, increased production, it would be interesting to know whether they are using additional (inferior?) grape sources or are now having their already established grape sources crop at a higher level (leading to your assessment of Gosset’s using unripe grapes.)
Though I haven’t tasted the 02 Celebris, I was previously persuaded to buy it based on another retailer’s use of John Gillman’s 97 point review which read, “This was my first taste of the 2002 Gosset Cuvée Celebris and the wine is absolutely brilliant. It was comprised of a blend of fifty-two percent chardonnay and forty-eight percent pinot noir in this outstanding vintage and offers up a stunning nose of apple, brioche, a youthful touch of orange peel, a very complex base of soil tones, smokiness, white flowers and a nice touch of fresh almond in the upper register. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, crisp and absolutely bottomless in the mid-palate, with snappy acids, laser-like focus, elegant mousse and great length and grip on the very pure, youthful finish. This is probably the greatest young vintage of Cuvée Celebris I have ever had the pleasure to taste and one of the reference point bottlings from the 2002 vintage!”
The mags were 134.99
They’re $179.99 now at Premier Cru (pre arrival, and there Champagnes have been running extra late lately)
What Brad said in both posts (and I do like dry, minerally extra brut and brut zero Champagnes). I had this wine a couple of nights ago and it was a very different experience from earlier vintages, I’ve had which I really enjoyed. I haven’t paid attention to Gosset in general over the past decade or so and can’t speak of any change in direction at the winery but I wouldn’t buy this at $60 or any price for that matter since it’s just not exciting enough for me.
Nowell,
I wasn’t necessarily stating that Gosset is using grapes less ripe than they used to, but that with a non-malolactic style, I think you need riper grapes than the norm/average. The longer the grapes have to ripen, the more ‘natural malolactic’ or reduction in malic acid occurs. With low dosage, oak aged, non-malolactic wines that are shooting for a pure/clean/precise expression like Gosset with the Celebris range, you have a smaller margin for error since you don’t have as many winemaking ‘tools’ to play with.
I never looked into exactly how Gosset managed to increase production - vineyard expansion, keeping of juice they used to sell off, use of more taille, new grape contracts, etc…, but I think the end result was a lessening of the wines across the range. Outside of just increasing production, they also introduced new wines and this affects things too.
As to Gilman’s rating, I am not surprised he loved this wine. There are many Champagnes that I find to be way too lean and dry for my liking, but John loves them - especially for their mineral expression. Again, some may love this wine and for those that do, the PC deal will be killer. I am on the other side of the fence, but that is why you have so many different styles of Champagne - something for everyone.
I am not a fan of zero dosage in general.
Sometimes it is fantastic. I had more than a handful of fantastic zero dosage wines in the last year or two. Sometimes it is just the trend, the fashion, what interests people and what sells.
No comment on the Gosset as I haven’t drank it yet (grabbed a couple plus a mag - I’m a sucker for mags!).
And for something completely different, having my first Aviation Cocktail in forever . . . lovely!
( http://infosecrockstar.com/the-aviation-cocktail-a-stunner/ )
Saw it now for 99 (and 199 for mags). Does anyone see better prices? (I don’t know how it fell off my radar last year). I saw that the 60 was a PC pricing, aka- imaginary numbers