Champagne Philipponnat 2007 - Light, Elegant, Ageworthy Wines
Champagne Philipponnat (Mareuil-sur-Ay)
Charles Philipponnat gave the following account of the travails of the 2007 vintage: “ Vine growth started in advance towards the 10th April, followed by a period of cold weather which meant that the period of flowering went badly with coulure and millerandage. Despite this, we predicted that we would be harvesting on the 20th August - which would have been the earliest in history.
“There was a violent hailstorm on 25th May in Mareuil, which destroyed 40% of the yield, in particular in the Clos des Goisses. The summer that followed was cold and punctuated by rainfall, consequently the ripening of the grapes took a step backwards. Harvesting in the area of Mareuil, having in fact been postponed began in general on 20th August which was nevertheless a record for this area. But, here at Philipponnat, we decided not to harvest before 3rd September in the Clos des Goisses. Luck was with us, the weather was glorious from 20th August, right through the period of harvest, with a mere 2mm of rainfall. The cool weather before harvest helped avoid the danger of botrytis. The result was satisfactory which was a minor miracle given the unfavourable summer weather; potential alcohol of over 11° in the Clos des Goisses, and above 10.5° in the other clos and vineyards. However the yield is 30% less than usual in the Clos des Goisses, and just enough in the other clos and vineyards. In the region on a general basis the Chardonnay grapes were of good quality, but there was the odd case in the region of botrytis striking especially in the black grapes ( in particular in the southern Champagne districts such as Aube, and the Sezannais, where the precipitation was higher. Overall, the good winemakers reaped the rewards this year, because the situation required great care.
“2007 is for us a vintage in advance and in a rush, with good maturity combined with good acidity, in particular a high level of malic acid. Compared to 1988 or 1996 (vintages which also possess these characteristics), the wines are lighter but purer, causing us to expect a good ageing potential for this vintage. However the acidity level is higher, but after undergoing malolactic fermentation, the wines’ acidity returns to normal. Consequently, we decided to prevent malolactic fermentation with the use of cold temperatures for a certain volume of the blends, in order to preserve the freshness.
“Unless we experience unforeseen mishaps with the health of the blends in the winery, the wines are showing today as follows: supple in the mouth, but sufficiently expressive, and very balanced. We have the elements necessary to produce some elegant and classic vintage champagnes, as long as one is selective, which is exactly what we have been. For the non-vintage champagnes, we needed to be very careful, and we were obliged to set aside 15% of the production ( in order to use nothing but successful wines), which we then sold on the market.”