Bottling the Future at Champagne Philippe Gonet

Philippe Gonet sits pretty at the top of a hill in Le Mesnil sur Oger.

May 23rd found us excited to visit Champagne Philippe Gonet. This was our second time in Le Mesnil sur Oger, a Grand Cru village of the Côte des Blancs in the southerly reaches of Champagne. This means that the Chardonnay grapes here are truly outstanding (at least, according to a 1985 decree). Within the open courtyard beyond wrought iron gates I found Karine, the knowledgeable, down-to-earth manager of the house and receiver of visitors when Head of Sales Chantal Gonet (half of a sister-brother business duo) is away.

Gonet owns 19 hectares of land comprising 45 plots, making it a small but slightly larger grower-producer than Pierre Paillard in Bouzy with 11 hectares. Their vineyards are spread across the Champagne region, yielding wines from all three grapes grown: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Pinot Meunier. Their rosé wines are made from a blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

Don't just take my word for it: Hear Chantal Gonet introduce the house's history and philosophy herself!

I soon discovered that Karine preferred to speak French, so I did my best. I was still unfamiliar with many French terms relating to wine so while I relished the opportunity to push the limits of my vocabulary, I inevitably fell on my face a few times. Hey, it’s all part of the learning process.

Karine gave us quite the comprehensive tour! The facilities were abuzz with workers, both permanent and seasonal; many of the latter come from Poland. This was the season for the mise en bouteille, the bottling of the wines from last year’s harvest. I was watching the future being bottled, right before my eyes!

In contrast to the sleek, industrial facilities at Champagne Thiénot, operations at Champagne Philippe Gonet were decidedly more old world. Workers in coveralls thronged at their respective stations, keeping a manually supervised bottling machine humming.

I learned that limited production special cuvées require this human oversight; larger machines bottle “standard” larger production cuvées. Each man’s movements were nimble and precise; there was no yelling above the din of rumbling machine and clinking bottles. Incidentally, I never once saw a woman doing this kind of work on the floor during my entire trip.

Low and High Tech as Befits the Wine

Philippe Gonet uses both old world and new world technology in the vinification (winemaking) process, each for specific purposes towards the creation of the house’s ideal Champagne.

I noticed in both Champagne and later in Burgundy that winemakers spare no expense in procuring the tools they know will help them produce wines they deem worthy. It’s never solely about cost control - it’s about what’s more efficient or cost-effective after having answered the crucial question of what methods and equipment will yield wines worthy of the house’s name.

Case in point: On a mezzanine level above the bottling floor - reached via a harrowing ascent up a steep, narrow steel step ladder - stood two wine presses. A traditional wooden "Coquard” basket press from 1970 (they really still make them!) lay like a split-open pumpkin. Pressed against the opposite wall was a pneumatic press that looked like a gigantic white sewing machine turned on its side.

Traditional Coquard basket press!

Both presses are used depending on what wine is desired. The pneumatic press is generally used for blanc de blancs, 100% Chardonnay wines. It offers a very even pressure to the whole grape clusters and yields a greater quantity (800 kiloliters). The traditional press is more gentle, but it’s obviously labor intensive, yields lower quantities (400 kiloliters), and takes a longer time (4 hours). But sometimes, you can’t rush goodness for those special cuvées and Pinot Noir grapes.

There is no hard and fast rule to what grapes gets crushed where, though - it depends on the myriad factors that make the winemaker’s expertise and instincts paramount to the success of a wine. Karine qualified 90% of her statements with, “... mais se dépende,” (“it depends”) accompanied by a cryptic smile.

Sharing space with the presses were two rows of small stainless steel tanks and clusters of stacked oak barrels. The former aged standard cuvées, and the latter cradled special cuvées for 3 years to infuse them with the unique flavors that only toasted wood offers.

I marveled at how the hoses I’d tripped over downstairs were pumping the wine from the stainless steel tanks: they criss-crossed the floor like green serpents, flowing and alive, before diving out of a tiny window to bring their precious liquid to the workers waiting downstairs to relieve them of their burden.

Cuvée "Le Mesnil" 2012 aging here!

Gonet’s cellars are a joining of old and new. The portion that bore a date of 1741 on the wall was decidedly crypt-like and literally crumbling in some places. There were fallen rocks and smashed bottles. I was honestly a bit scared! Karine wasn’t.

We passed by pupitres - sandwich boards with holes, each holding the neck of a Champagne bottle. Humans rotate the bottles a quarter twist regularly for 8 weeks to make sure the lees collect in the neck for expulsion. This process is called riddling.

(Lees = yeast cells that have died after gorging on sugars during fermentation. Om nom nom.)

Only special cuvées are hand-riddled; larger production wines are rotated much more quickly by gigantic Rubik’s cube-like machines.

Before entering the chalet-style tasting room bearing portraits of “Grandpère” Charles Gonet (his son Philippe eventually took over the house), I passed by a machine with spools of labels sprawled around it. I was tempted to steal some of the gorgeous stickers; they were so attractive.

Interestingly, labels are called etiquettes in French. An easy way to remember the French word is to think “polite labels.”

Finally, to the tasting! Karine asked me where my taste preferences lay so she could decide what Champagnes she’d offer us. It was truly a personalized, intimate visit.

Champagnes Tasted

Signature Brut Blanc de Blancs

Signature Brut Blanc de Blancs - This 100% Chardonnay is the specialty of the house: “La Cuvée signature de la Maison.” This Champagne is a blend of grapes from 30-40 year old vines in Le Mesnil sur Oger (40%) and Montgueux (60%), about 90km south near Troyes.

A very beautiful, drinkable Champagne this was, and with character in spades.

• Nose: At first, a sharp, fresh wet slate scent … melting away into smoky citrus. Yes, really. 
• Palate: Fresh and liltingly coy with a bit of orange here, a bit of lemon there, but reined in by a refreshing acidity. I was left with a slight smolder of smoke. 

The exuberant bubbles exploded their little tiny selves against the roof of my mouth, and I almost giggled with the tickling sensation.

EXTRA-BRUT 3210 Blanc de Blancs - When I told Karine that I’m not a big fan of sweet wines, she chose this. Introduced in 2009, this full Chardonnay a relative newcomer to the family.

I loved the way Karine described it: “sans maquillage” - a Champagne without cosmetics. This means there is no dosage in the winemaking process: no addition of sugars to the wine after the dead yeast cells are expelled after bottle aging (the process is called dégorgement, or disgorgement).

The vast majority of Champagnes undergo dosage, so the winemaker can control the amount of sweetness. When done well with good wines, this practice maximizes the natural flavors of the wine and makes for a fine Champagne.

However, when used for less scrupulous purposes dosage can be used to mask crappy wines, much like when a supermarket slathers BBQ sauce onto meat past its prime and puts it on sale (ugh).

A non-dosage Champagne is called Brut nature. It is said that you can really tell the true worth of a Champagne maker by an unadorned wine because you can taste its true essence. In outstanding houses, these can embody the most beautiful expression of Champagne.

The “3210” in the name is both descriptive and clever: 3 years aged, 2 terroirs (40% Montgueux and 60% Le Mesnil sur Oger), 1 grape varietal (Chardonnay), and 0 dosage.

This Champagne was bracing and fierce, yet soothing in its angular elegance. It didn’t have that strip-the-enamel-off-your-teeth acidity that an unsweetened Champagne might threaten.

• Nose: Okay, I’m awake! Sharply burnt puff pastry gave way to a light perfume of yellow and white flowers. A bit of lime.
• Palate: Very fresh: Tart puckering limes and pink grapefruit were balanced by apricot compote-like flavors. How did they make this Champagne taste like so much fruit, without it actually tasting sweet? Amazing! 

If a cold shower could be completely refreshing and pleasurable, this is it.

Extra-Brut 3210

I marveled at the unique character of each of the Champagnes I’d tasted. Gonet was the third grower-producer in Champagne I’d visited thus far. I was rapidly becoming spoiled by the beautifully nuanced wines yielded through the combination of laser-sharp focus on cultivating the taste of the land, and the non-scalable winemaking techniques these small houses could afford to employ. I wouldn’t begin to fully understand what this translated to in taste until I visited the “big houses” later in my trip.

I bade a grateful farewell to Karine and tripped outside into the rare ray of sunshine that had decided to grace us for all of 10 minutes during the unexpected cold snap. I was exhausted from exerting myself solely in French for one and a half hours straight, but I was grinning triumphantly: thanks to Chantal's and Karine's generosity, I'd had another successful visit with so much learned, so much experienced.

And those tiny bubbles were still effervescent inside me, making me impervious to the wintry chill as I danced my way down the winding hill to the car.