Owner of vineyards since the beginning of the 16th century, Philipponnat possesses a unique heritage and has reached the top of its art!

Established in the heart of the Champagne, Philipponnat has owned an exceptional walled vineyard, unparalleled in the Champagne wine-growing area, for nearly a century: Clos des Goisses. Facing south, this pure chalk slope receives no shade from sunrise to sunset.

The modern era of this Champagne house began in 1910 with Auguste and Pierre Philipponnat. Since then, the family crafts its wines using exclusively first press juice from the finest grapes, mainly from Premier and Grand Cru plots, and is committed to harvesting grapes when they reach perfect maturity. A portion of the wines is fermented or matured in casks; aging in wood gives them greater complexity. Wines are aged in the bottle on lees for three to eleven years. With a distinctive style that does not yield to trends, the House produces a range of Champagnes which are first and foremost wines: flavourful, powerful and well-balanced.

Since taking over in 1999, Charles has returned Philipponnat to its last Golden Age, 1913-1962, when Louis Boland was chef de caves. Boland’s wines were the essence of Pinot Noir from the house’s vineyards in the Montagne de Reims. Charles’ Champagnes also fully exploit these prized vineyards, and the resulting wines revel in their Pinot-infused glory.

Under Charles, Philipponnat’s wines aren’t just more intense, they’re also fresher (due to using only first-pressing Chardonnay). And for more depth and complexity, Charles has gradually increased the amount of wine aging in neutral wood. To maximize their character, the non-vintage wines age for 3 years en tirage, while the vintage cuvées spend from 5 to 10 years on the lees.

Through great vision, technical skill, perfectionist attention to detail and the pride of five centuries of tradition, Charles has created a range of Champagnes with few peers for quality and character.

HISTORY

April de Philipponnat, a soldier for François 1er, was granted land in Aÿ as a reward after the Battle of Marignano in 1515.

In the 16th century, the family’s ancestors were winegrowers and merchants, suppliers to the court of Louis XIV, magistrates and Royal Mayors of Ay - a town which was directly dependent on the Crown since the era of the Counts of Champagne.

Philipponnat’s legacy has been passed down through the ages, producing a long line of men and women who are still today the custodians of a centuries-old philosophy.

Philipponnat was the first Champagne House to indicate the main year used in its non-vintage blends, the dosage and the date of disgorgement on back labels, informing consumers and wine experts of the characteristics of each cuvée.

Over the centuries, the tradition has been passionately maintained by the members of the family. Although the Philipponnat House joined the LANSON-BCC (Boizel Chanoine Champagne) group in 1997, it has retained its familial spirit, with the roles of Chairman and CEO being held by Charles Philipponnat, the 15th generation. It is one of the last houses to be run by a member of its founding family.

Prior to Charles Philipponnat’s management takeover in 1999, the estate was run by his father René, who was chef de caves at Moet from 1949 to 1977, and responsible for the 1961 Dom Perignon, among other Champagne legends.

VINEYARD AND WINES

Philipponnat House overlooks an exceptional vineyard made up of 20 hectares of vines, which are located in Premiers and Grands Crusin Ay, Mareuil-sur-Ay and Avenay. Philipponnat is primarily a Pinot Noir house, and its vineyards are in prime Pinot Noir territory: Mareuil sur Aÿ, Aÿ, Avenay, and Mutigny. However, all cuvées contain at least 30% Chardonnay for freshness. Its 20 hectares of vineyards represent about a third of its total needs, with the rest being bought in from growers.

Twenty years ago, the house was known largely for one wine: the iconic Clos des Goisses, which in the 1930s became the region’s first important single-vineyard Champagne. But under Charles, Philipponnat has created a whole portfolio of great wines. These range from two of Champagne’s finest non-vintage bruts—Royale Réserve and Reserve Rosé—to an expanding number of exceptional Champagnes de terroir.

Annul production is around 58,000 cases divided amongst 13 different cuvees.

VITICULTURE

“Here we are concerned with the proper functioning of the plant with qualitative practices as close as possible to the specifications of organic or even biodynamic viticulture.” explains Charles Philipponnat. When he arrived in 2000, he began working the soil, without ever disturbing the structure of the vineyards on the hillside.

“Here we use plows pulled by winches. We have implemented light plowing and a horse takes care of the land on side slopes.”

The new thing is the plant cover to protect the soils. Low plants: clover, dandelion, plantain, then tall plants: feverflower, tall clover, rye, which we layer. They degrade slowly and thus maintain humidity. “The objective is little by little to eliminate the need for plows.”

The question of insecticides is resolved by sexual confusion: “We install pheromone plates at the end of the row and then diffusers which spread them powerfully.”

Leaf stripping in the north and east promotes air circulation which keeps botrytis away from the fruits.

Prophylactic actions are largely favored, the rest of the interventions against fungal diseases are carried out while respecting the greatest possible safety: “associated with sulfur and copper authorized organically, biocontrolled products and certain surfactants, adherents, such as essential oils of terpenes from orange and lemon peels are now systematically used.”

“Mass selection is also part of our goals: selecting the very best vine plants in our plots to create our own selection of vines, which is better suited to our terroirs and more in line with our quality and organoleptic expectations.“

VINIFICATION

“We try to be as least interventionist as possible. A contribution of SO2 as an antiseptic during pressing, a little after the alcoholic fermentation, a little after the malolactic if there is one.

Our fermentations start with selected yeasts. At the time, it was Louis Boland, village pharmacist and cellar master at Philipponnat in the 1920s-1930s, who carried out the study and the first selection of yeasts in Champagne!”

Alcoholic fermentations take place in wood tanks (between 35% and 70% for vintaged cuvées, sometimes entirely for cuvées parcellaires). They use huge oak foudres, which vary in size from 15 to 45 hl and are on average five years old.

The House's expertise is particularly apparent in its use of the solera process. This technique i consists of keeping reserve wines in oak barrels and including them in non-vintage blends and using this blend as a reserve wine for the following blend.

They are one of the few houses to still riddle most of their vintage champagnes by hand.

Philipponnat have a strict dosage policy. The philosophy behind this is to “let the vintage speak … adjusting dosage is an industrial way of thinking.” They are also jetting all of their champagnes, to evacuate oxygen from the bottleneck post-disgorgement and thereby reduce bottle variation.