WINERY: Champagne Gosset produces dynamic, textured cuvées that reflect their sourcing, primarily Grand and Premier Cru vineyards. By following a winemaking philosophy that minimizes inputs beyond what the grapes provide (e.g. no malolactic fermentation), the winery continues a family legacy of excellence that started in 1584, making it the oldest wine house in Champagne. Pierre Gosset was Mayor of Ay when, in 1584, he founded his Wine House. Only still wine were made at the time with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grape, known as Vin D’Ay. The Sparkling wine production only started in the 18th Century and was presented in the antique flask still used for the production of Champagne Gosset today.

Gosset is still based in Aÿ, a village just a few kilometres from Epernay, and remains relatively small at 1.3 million bottles a year, with the focus on premium wines. The house style here is one of purity, elegance and precision.Pinot noir offers complexity, fruit flavour and texture, which explains why it is the most planted Champagne grape. Acidity levels are not as high as chardonnay, but pinot noir offers weightier flavours, adding body and strength, and giving the wine structure. Bollinger is a good example of a classic pinot noir-dominant blend. Founded in 1584, Gosset is the oldest House in the Champagne region. Production remained fairly low-key until 1994, when the House was sold to the family owned Renaud-Cointreau Group. This takeover saw an increased level of investment improve their vineyard management and fostered a doubling of Gosset's annual production to nearly one million bottles in just fourteen years. Production was accelerated by the return to the beautiful old-fashioned bottles identical to the ones used by Jean Gosset in the 18th century. After sixteen generations in the famous village of Aÿ, the winery has only recently moved to Épernay and the modern ex-Malakoff cellars. The Gosset style of dry Champagnes is well expressed in their nonvintage cuvée. It is crisp with a steely acidity that is balanced by apple and tight citrus fruit flavors. The wine is fresh while also showing a touch of bottle aging.

This cuvée has a bright and golden colour. The nose is dominated by the freshness and the fruit. The Chardonnay brings finesse sustained by notes of yellow fruits such as peach and Mirabelle plum. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied and generous. The Pinot Noir of Ay gives its structure. Hawthorn and white flowers merge naturally. Acidity is expressed by citrus fruits. Brut denotes a dry style of Champagne (less than 15 grams per litre). Most Champagne is non-vintage, produced from a blend from different years. The non-vintage blend is always based predominately on wines made from the current harvest, enriched with aged wines (their proportion and age varies by brand) from earlier harvests, which impart an additional level of complexity to the end wine. Champagnes from a single vintage are labelled with the year reference and with the description Millésimé. Situated in the tiny Grand Cru village of Aÿ, five kilometres from Epernay, quality-focused Gosset has some rather famous neighbours, including Bollinger; its production, however, is much below that of the larger Houses, at around 1.3 million bottles (Moët & Chandon, for comparison, makes close to 30 million). Champagne is made from chardonnay, pinot noir or pinot meunier grapes (there are one or two other permitted varieties but these are very rare) grown on chalky hillsides within a strictly demarcated region centred on the twin towns of Reims and Epernay, some 90 miles east of Paris. After hand harvesting, each grape variety is vinified separately, and in the following spring, the wines are blended unless a blancs de blancs is to made in which case any blending will be from parcels of chardonnay that were vinified separately. Yeast and sugar are added, and the wine is bottled for its second fermentation which creates the bubbles, or mousse.

Disclaimer

Gosset crafts truly artisan and gastronomic Champagnes, wines which are often seen in Michelin-star restaurants across the world. Newly appointed Chef de Caves Odilon de Varine (who took over in 2016) carries on the hallmark style of the House: extended aging “sur lees” in the cellars gives the wines extra richness and complexity in the finished glass, while the wines often don’tt undergo malolactic fermentation, to preserve the wines’ acidity and freshness. The results tend to be very creamy, dry and full, with rich, biscuit notes, framed by a trademark mineral freshness. For centuries, French wines have set standards to inspire winemakers around the world. No other country has France’s long history of fine wine production, which has helped define wine styles around the world. Founded in Ay in 1584 Champagne Gosset is the oldest wine house in Champagne. The Grande Réserve is the true signature of the House. Its style rests on Pinot Noir from Ay which gives the structure to the wine. Malolactic fermentation has been avoided to preserve the freshness and the elegance of the fruit and a long ageing in cellars will bring roundness and complexity. Dosage is kept low as in the style of the house (8 g/l). Bottled at the end of the spring following the harvest, 4 years minimum aging in cellars. The dosage is adjusted with precision to preserve the balance between freshness, fruit, and vinosity without masking the wine’s character and purity.

A blend of fruit from the Montagne de Reims and the Cote des Blancs, it shows some attractive maturity. Given its balanced, perfumed aftertaste and great fruitiness, this is a Champagne to drink now...' What marks the ‘Champagne’ method from other sparkling wines is the fact that this complex and gradual maturation process, along with the second fermentation, takes place in the same bottle as the wine is sold.

Sorry, Waitrose Cellar may be unavailable in your area

In some Champagnes the dégorgement is delayed, sometimes for years, to increase the depth and complexity of the flavours through more time spent on the lees. After topping up (dosage) with a little more wine and sugar (known as liqueur d'expédition), the bottle is sealed. In the early years, under the ownership of Pierre Gosset, red wines were the sought-after bottles, particularly at the royal court. In the 18th century sparkling wines began to be deliberately made and the bottle shape used at Gosset to this day reflects the early ‘flask’ bottles employed at that time.