The 1997 Philipponnat Clos des Goisses LV is the third expression of this distinguished single-vineyard Champagne in different Late Vintage releases offered across this catalogue (the 1994 in Batch 18 and the 1998 in Batch 21), completing an extraordinary set of three mature expressions of the same Maréuil-sur-Aÿ single monopole across consecutive Champagne vintages at different stages of their extended development. The 1997 Champagne vintage was warm, producing wines of generous character and good aromatic complexity, though it was not considered one of the decade’s greatest years in terms of structure and longevity. The LV (Late Vintage) designation confirms that this wine has been held at the Philipponnat estate for an extended period beyond the standard release timeline, and its positioning between the 1994 and 1998 LV expressions provides a genuinely unique opportunity for a three-vintage comparative study of the Clos des Goisses’ specific monopole character across consecutive years, now unified by their Late Vintage ageing arc and their extraordinary development at twenty-eight years from harvest. The wine-searcher aggregate for Yquem 1997 is 96/100 as a reference vintage for Sauternes that year, while the Philipponnat Clos des Goisses from any vintage and any LV release represents wine for which no systematic approved critic comparison exists from publicly available sources.

At twenty-eight years from harvest, the 1997 Clos des Goisses LV occupies the middle ground between the 1994 (thirty-two years from harvest, in Batch 18) and the 1998 (twenty-seven years, in Batch 21), providing a wine of intermediate development within the same extended LV ageing programme. The Clos des Goisses’ specific combination of chalk subsoil, south-facing steep slope and exceptional sun exposure provides a consistently exceptional foundation for extended ageing, and the 1997’s warmer growing season character should have produced a slightly richer and more immediately accessible expression than the cooler 1994 or the more precise 1998, contributing an important stylistic contrast within the three-vintage set.

For the collector who has acquired or is considering all three Philipponnat Clos des Goisses LV vintages across this catalogue, the 1997 provides the warm-vintage character that completes the trilogy, creating a genuinely rare and extraordinary mature Champagne vertical from the appellation’s most dramatically positioned and historically celebrated monopole single vineyard.

Amber gold with fine, long-lived bubbles and a richly complex nose of honey, beeswax, roasted hazelnut, dried apricot, old wax, preserved lemon, coffee and the distinctive deep chalk-mineral character of aged Clos des Goisses Champagne in a warm-vintage expression. Full-bodied with excellent residual natural acidity, remarkable complexity and a very long, vinous, mineral finish. Drink now through 2030.