Article: CHAMPAGNE CLANDESTIN
CHAMPAGNE CLANDESTIN
Landreville, France - Benoît Doussot, the founder and winemaker of Clandestin’s Champagne House did not have an easy start in establishing himself. There was no lay-up with his family being growers for centuries. In fact, he wasn’t even from Champagne, rather he lived in Burgundy, lightyears away as a vigneron’s mindset might travel.
Perhaps he’d been inspired by his wife’s father, Bertrand Gautherot of Champagne Vouette-et-Sorbée. His father-in-law had been a helpful introduction to the world of Champagne, but Benoît was his own man and had bigger ambitions. Despite owning no land, and no winery, he was undaunted. Don’t fool yourself, this was not any 25-year-old.
In 2015, the 25-year old set up shop in Landreville, a town in the Côte des Bars where the Kimmeridgian marls (the same ancient, Jurrasic soils as in Chablis) made him feel at home. While he was only 40 KM from Chablis, and 160 KM from Reims, his mindset separating him from both places may as well have made him a Martian. He had resolved to take pieces of tradition from both, and craft Champagne like a Burgundian vigneron might: site and vintage specific, unmanipulated Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, rather than create a mass-produced recipe…something de rigueur in Champagne at the time.
The Cote des Bars, where he chose to build his cellar, is a region in Southern Champagne that has long been merely a source for large Champagne houses to disappear grape varietals into blends, losing any identity of their terroir. In fact, many large houses lobbied against the Cote des Bars being included in the Champagne region. They lost.
Clandestin, as his new Champagne house is named (“clandestine” in English means something secret, and possibly illicit), began a novel initiative to set up contracts as a négociant. Imagine what the growers thought…”you own no land, no winery and I don’t know your family but you’re talking like a négociant, as if you’re Roederer or Veuve Clicquot?”
Benoît persisted by offering a premium for organically grown over the price growers received from the big houses. While he managed only 2 growers at the beginning, his goal was to source grapes and make wines according to their sun exposures. He produces four wines every year, made from a single vintage, made singularly from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, fermented and aged exactly the same way. The only difference being a northern or southern exposure..
The wine fermentation was well orchestrated as well. Benoît wanted defined wines and expression of the soil, and of the year, so sugar was an issue: “if I add liquor, I consider that I’m violating time, it’s just as if I added sugar in a great Burgundy. I want a vinous Champagne bottle, inhabited by the soul of a single year.”
A strong statement, but an even bolder decision to have no dosage in all the cuvées is something Benoit feel adds precision to his wines. In his process, he starts with indigenous yeasts over a few weeks, and a malolactic yeast much later to increase CO2 production and limit the use of sulfite. All of the wine is fermented in 600L barrels and aged 12 months on the lees. Pressure in the bottle (bubbles) is reduced to 4,5 bars (6.0 is normal) to create an experience where the effervescence is something that does not distract from the wines purity.
When Clandestin started the wines were incredibly sharp and racy but with time and experimentation, Benoît has arrived at a place where his brut nature wines are mineral and textured. We can thank global warming and his ability to harvest ripe fruit. He picks later than almost anyone in Champagne, which pushes down the acid levels a bit, allowing more room for the elevage to step into view. He also focuses on barrel work, including experimenting with barrel size and duration to achieve harmony without dosage.
