Champagne Philippe Clerget Cuvée Ancestral Extra Brut NV

When we visited Philippe Clerget not long ago, our tasting started out a bit bumpy. We didn’t speak French, they didn’t speak English, and our translation app didn’t work in the cellar. But, we happily tasted the wines and were quickly smitten by the incredible care, complexity, and detail poured into each one for a considerably approachable price. Philippe and Nathalie’s son, Geoffrey, later arrived with his wife and baby, and he happened to be a wonderful translator! We ended up having a fun meal of raclette and were fast friends by the end, sipping La Prunelle de Troyes, a plum brandy from nearby Troyes, and swapping stories about our vastly different worlds within the wine industry.

Philippe and Nathalie have been producing their own wines here in Les Riceys since only about 2008. For three generations prior, the family business focused solely on growing the grapes in the family’s 8 plots, and then selling fruit to other growers and the local co-op. The temptation to craft their own wine finally won out – and you, me, and every soul in the bubble-loving world should give praise for that! 

This exceptionally valued Cuvée Ancestral is composed of 100% Pinot Noir from the family’s oldest vines, including a plot called “Val du Clos” which is 60 years old – all grown with sustainable practices. The wine is a base of the classically great 2021 vintage, which ages for 8 months in amphora before bottling and aging on the lees for 30 months, receiving a scant 3 g/L dosage to keep the final wine clean, vivid, and so very pretty. The wine bursts in the glass with a fine, zesty mousse delivering generous notes of hawthorn flower, quince, and apple blossoms. The palate brings bright, fruity sensations of apple cider, crunchy pear, and Rainier cherry, with chalky, crumbled river rocks on the finish. Just beware of how quickly your glass empties! One thing’s for certain: if you want to keep this around for a while, you’ll need at least a few bottles on hand.