Philipponnat - Champagne Brut Les Cintres 2009

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Philipponnat Description

The Philipponnat family have been growing grapes in Champagne since 1522. The House was founded in 1910 by Pierre Philipponnat. Charles Philipponnat took over as CEO in 1999 and has improved the quality and production vastly by implementing smaller oak barrels, keeping different vineyard plots separate and utilizing only the first press. The jewel in the crown of the House is the historic and iconic 5.5 hectares 'Clos des Goisses' vineyard that sits on a steep, south-facing 45° slope starting at the Marne River. This is one of the warmest vineyard sites in all of Champagne and is planted to Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. In 1935 'Clos des Goisses' was the first single vineyard Champagne produced and it would take over 50 years for other Houses to start producing serious Champagne just from a single Clos.

Philipponnat applies natural methods to work the soil, hoeing by hand and plowing with horses. The House's expertise is particularly apparent in its use of the solera process. This technique is a very longstanding House tradition; it consists of keeping reserve wines in oak barrels and including them in non-vintage blends (in a proportion of one quarter to one third) and using this blend as a reserve wine for the following blend.

This progressive dilution allows every bottle to retain a trace of previous years' wines blended since the very beginning. Successive Cellar Masters have attached great importance to handing down this expertise. Philipponnat was the first Champagne House to indicate the main year used in its non-vintage blends, the dosage, and the date of disgorgement on back labels, informing consumers and wine experts of the characteristics of each cuvée.

Wine Advocate: 97 Points

The 2009 Extra Brut Blanc de Noirs Les Cintres hails from lieux-dits Les Grands Cintres and Les Petits Cintres in the steep, south-facing part of the Clos des Goisses which is characterized by the thinnest, reddest soils in the vineyard and where the house's oldest vines are planted. Amazingly, the 2009 attained 13.5% alcohol, the highest numbers recorded chez Philipponnat since 1959. Unwinding in the glass with aromas of warm bread, fresh peach, mango and yeast extract, it's full-bodied, thickly textural and vinous, with lively acids—Philipponnat opting to block malolactic fermentation—and a deep, multidimensional core, concluding with a long and powerful finish. This is a broad-shouldered, authoritative wine that may disconcert by virtue of its sheer scale, but it is a potential legend in the making.

Vinous: 96 Points

The 2009 Les Cintres, from the warmest part of Clos des Goisses, is powerful, ample and creamy, with all of the radiance of 2009 on display. Impeccable in its balance, with better integration of oak than the 2008, the 2009 is hugely promising. That said, readers need to be patient, as the 2009 is in no mood to show all of its cards today. Lemon confit, mint and flowers, along with light tropical overtones, emerge over time, but only with great reluctance. Dosage is 4.5 grams per liter. Disgorged: March, 2019.

Decanter: 95 Points

Les Cintres is a small plot inside Clos des Goisses in Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, one of the warmest sites in Champagne. This has a very expressive nose with white pepper, spice and delicate smoky notes. Being 100% oaked and with no malolactic fermentation, this broad-shouldered wine reveals excellent up front intensity in its ripe yellow fruit. 2009 is the third opus of Les Cintres, after 2006 and 2008.