The 2011 vintage of Clos des Goisses is quite unique in the annals of this great single vineyard Champagne, as it is composed solely of pinot noir in this year! This the first vintage to ever be crafted exclusively from pinot noir. While the 2011 vintage favored the pinot noir grape here, the decision to only utilize this variety was also predicated on four parcels of chardonnay having to be replanted in the hillside vineyard prior to the 2011 growing season. Eighty percent of the vins clairs were barrel-fermented and none went through malolactic fermentation. The wine was aged sur latte for fully eight years prior to disgorgement in March of 2020. It was finished with a dosage of 4.5 grams per liter. The bouquet wafts from the glass in a beautifully refined blend of white peach, a hint of fresh apricot, a gorgeous base of chalky minerality, almond, brioche and a topnote of orange blossoms. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and utterly suave in personality, with a superb core, great mineral drive and bounce, elegant mousse and a long, complex and perfectly balanced finish. This is a stunning vintage for Clos des Goisses and it is going to be fascinating to watch this wine age over the coming decades and see how its exclusively pinot noir foundation evolves as the underlying terroir here grows in its influence in the blend with extended bottle age. A stunning wine!

A brisk attack yields bright red fruit and elderberry with fine petillance. Disgorged after nine years on the lees with a dosage of 4.25 g/litre, this vintage is unique: 100% Pinot Noir. An attack of oidium affected the Chardonnays too much, with production only half of a normal vintage, at some 12,000 bottles. The summer was 'less solar than normal, so we have more red fruit like cherry and black fruit aspects, but not too ripe,' Charles Philipponnat commented. Worthy of the terroir and with a long finish, although Philipponnat is more excited over the 2012 vintage, which is 'superior', he said

The 2011 Extra-Brut Clos des Goisses is bright and perfumed, with lovely energy driving the citrus, floral and savory notes. In 2011, Clos des Goisses is a touch lithe, but its balance is simply impeccable. In 2011, Clos des Goisses is, unusually, 100% Pinot Noir, taken from just four of the fourteen Goisses parcels, the result of some of the Chardonnay parcels being replanted and the Pinots having distinctly Chardonnay-like characteristics. Given the challenges of the year, I would not push my luck on aging. If there is one 2011 I would be willing to bet on, at least for the medium term, it is Clos des Goisses. Dosage is 4.5 liters per gram. -- Antonio Galloni

This offers fine integration of well-cut acidity with delicate flavors of crème de cassis, lemon curd and crushed almond. The mousse is lively and lacy in texture, carrying a streak of minerally chalk and smoke notes on the finish. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Disgorged Autumn 2019. Drink now through 2026. 1,002 cases made, 25 cases imported. — AN