Champagne Clandestin 'Les Semblables Boreal' (bubbles)

Champagne Clandestin 'Les Semblables Boreal' 2021

Pinot Noir

Champagne, France

Benoit Doussot, a Meursault-trained winemaker who has worked at Vouette for several years alongside Bertrand and Hélène, has opened up shop next door to Vouette with his own micro-negociant estate called Clandestin.  The estate focuses on small, outof-the-way parcels and expositions (clandestin means “hidden” or “secret”) that many traditional winemakers eschew. The parcels, Pinot Noir on Kimmeridean limestone and Chardonnay on Portlandian limestone, are farmed organically, and the fruit is harvested by hand. After pressing the wine is aged in French oak barrels following closely the training in Meursault that Benoit received before moving north to Champagne.  The Champagnes appeal to purists with lovely minerality, cut, and precision.  Because of the insistence on harvesting perfectly ripe grapes (which is not generally the case in Champagne), the wines can be bottled with no dosage, giving room for the oceanic terroir to really shine through.  These are show-stopping Champagnes of the highest order.

Les Semblables Boréal Boréal comes from his north-facing vineyards of Pinot Noir in the commune of Buxières-sur-Acre. These sites are far cooler than most vineyards farmed in the village, making precise and intensely mineral wines lashed with bright, crunchy berry flavors. Fermented and aged in French oak barrels before aging sur latte for 15 months, Les Semblables Boreal is disgorged and finished without any dosage.

-European Cellers