2004 Philipponnat, Clos des Goisses

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

From their iconic steep, south-facing, riverside vineyard in Mareuil-sur-Ay - acquired in 1935 - Philipponnat's strikingly beautiful 2004 Brut Clos des Goisses betrays no suggestion of alcoholic weight or opacity such as one might associate with an especially warm, fast-ripening vineyard. On the contrary, this is a bottling that combines silken feel with delicacy, refreshment, and utmost transparency to nuance. Chamomile, mint and lily-of-the-valley don't just turn heads from the rim of the glass; they waft through this wine's entire palate performance, against a greenhouse-like background of diverse if elusive flowering and leafing things. Salivary gland-tugging salinity and hints of chalk suffuse a fruit matrix of white peach, lime, red raspberry and red currant whose juicy, subtly crunchy expressions put me a bit in mind of certain supreme Nahe Rieslings. This site's reflection in the Marne River is itself iconic, but its reflection in your glass will prove kaleidoscopically spellbinding. That effect persisted during the four days I had the pleasure of following this 2004, and I suspect that subsequent bottles will prove worth following for at least a decade.