2008 Philipponnat Cuvee 1522
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Tasting notes
After tasting this with the team today we were blown away by the quality of this magnificent Champagne. FINE+RARE are thrilled to offer this 2008 Vintage Champagne from 100% Grand Cru vineyards from one of the great single-vineyard Champagne producers – Philipponnat. A producer whose 2008s Antonio Galloni describes as some of the highlights of the vintage. Earlier this week we sold out of our allocation of Philipponnat’s single-vineyard cuvées in minutes, so have since secured their ‘1522’ cuvée, a blend made from some of the top Grand Cru sites in Champagne: 58% Pinot Noir from their ‘Le Léon’ vineyard in Aÿ and 42% Chardonnay from the Grand Cru Chardonnay vineyard of Mesnil-sur-Oger. This wine spent 8 years ageing on its lees, made from 100% first press juice with a portion of the wine aged in oak barrel, making the wine both opulent and expressive but with the laser-sharp focus and length distinctive of a great vintage. Bright hue with marzipan and mineral crushed rock aromas even a touch of sultana, lemon zest and jasmine spice, a really complex nose. Fairly broad and creamy on the palate, beautifully soft textured, with russet apple, baked sultana and dried lemon peel flavours. The wine has a great drive through the centre of the palate with a fantastic surge on the finish and a great salinity. The length is really long and super impressive.
Critic scores
Average Score
Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
Full bottle 1,697 g. From vineyards including the historic plots at Le Léon in Aÿ, complemented by Chardonnay from Le Mesnil-sur-Oger and Oger. Red wines from Mareuil. 72% Pinot Noir and 28% Chardonnay. Dosage 4.5 g/l, eight years sur latte, disgorged March 2019. 5,212 bottles. Long and racy. Bitter orange oils and raspberry-leaf tea, more than a little minty but with the cool-hit lift and bite of wasabi powder, fine-ground chalk and river pebbles, cumin powder, white pepper. Enormously complex but clenched as tight as a fist. White raspberries, grapefruit, redcurrants. Precision, finger-nail-pressed origami folds, so sharp the fruit has paper cuts. Exciting. Exacting. Tense yet creamy. Spice defines the finish and brings it to a close that feels like an unfinished poem. So you take another sip. (TC)
The 2008 Extra Brut Grand Cru 1522 is also showing very well, offering up aromas of citrus, confit citrus, blackcurrants, marzipan and spice. On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied, deep and concentrated, with a layered and multidimensional core that marries the tangy acidic spine of the vintage with plenty of flesh and fruit, concluding with a long and chalky finish. While it's in a very different stylistic register to the 2009, the two are on a similar qualitative plane.
The 2008 1522 is another compelling mid-tier wine in the Philipponnat range. Creamy, sensual and inviting, the 2008 is super-expressive today. Bright Chardonnay notes add energy to the Pinot fruit in an effortless, gracious Champagne. Orchard fruit, dried flowers, chamomile and lemon confit all resonate through to the finish. The blend is 58% Pinot Noir (from Aÿ and Verzenay) and 42% Chardonnay (from Cramant). Dosage is 4.25 grams per liter. Disgorged: July, 2018.
About the producer
Champagne Philipponnat, an historic family estate that has been cultivating the region for an extraordinary 500 years, has been producing Champagne on the Clos des Goisses site since 1935. Charles Philipponnat is currently at the helm of the Champagne House.