Gosset Celebris Brut 2012

Celebris Brut 2012 represents the prestige end of the Gosset collection: a vintage Champagne shaped by the decision to allow a selected harvest an exceptionally long period in the cellar. This Chardonnay-forward release spent more than a decade on lees, followed by a further nine months under cork before reaching the market. Those are important distinguishing details for the 2012 bottling, not figures to assign to every Celebris vintage. Gosset has a history that reaches back to 1584, when Pierre Gosset established a wine business in Aÿ. The house is now based in Épernay and has been part of the family-owned Renaud-Cointreau group since 1993. Its present cellar master, Odilon de Varine, has directed the wines since 2006, continuing an approach in which freshness and long maturation are not treated as opposites. This philosophy is visible across the range, but with different levels of ambition. Grande Réserve offers the most useful introduction to the house’s familiar style, while Grand Blanc de Blancs is the direct route for Chardonnay enthusiasts. Celebris occupies a more selective place, with particular vintages chosen for the prestige programme and allowed to develop over an extended period. The 2012 is a Brut Champagne with Chardonnay among its grapes. It should not be reduced to a generic description of the whole Gosset range, nor should its tasting profile be borrowed from another vintage. The precision of the harvest, the long time on lees and the post-disgorgement rest are sufficient reasons for a collector or experienced drinker to give this release individual attention. For a significant dinner, serve Celebris Brut 2012 as a principal wine rather than merely an opening toast. Allow the bottle time in the glass before deciding how best to accompany it, and take care over provenance and storage when buying a mature prestige Champagne. This is a choice for someone who values both the character of a declared year and the deliberate patience of the cellar: an individual 2012 release from one of Champagne’s most historic houses.