1998 is one of the Champagne vintages that i have drunk quite a number of bottles. As far as I remember, I have at least tried Krug, Bollinger, Pol Roger, Alfred Gratien and Billecart Blanc de Blancs. This bottle of 1998 Gosset Extra Brut Champagne Celebris is another. From all the 1998 that I drunk, they all shared one common characteristic: acidity is very high but unfortunately all of them show different degree of un-integrating acidity. Yet, almost all of them suggested that 1998 is a high quality vintage that may improve a lot with more ageing.
Among all the 1998 Champagnes I tried before, Alfred Gratien seems to suffer the most in term of un-integrating acidity. For this reason, I have decided to leave a few bottles of 1998 Alfred Gratien behind for a few years hoping that they will improve. After trying a bottle recently, the champagne really improved a lot. That annoying acidity is finally integrating a lot better today. It also gained in complexity as well. As a matter of fact, many people now seem to suggest 1998 may be a vintage that can surpass 1996!
Celebris is Gosset’s flagship champagne. To me, Gosset’s style is full-bodied wine but still able to retain refreshness with its sharp acidity. I believe this is much related to the fact that Gosset’s champagne will not undergo malolactic fermentation to turn the sharp tartic acid to malo acid. In addition, Gosset will not use barrel in both fermentation and ageing for its champagne. Although I confess that most of my favorite champagne will use barrel either in fermentation or ageing (such as Krug and Bollinger), I have to admit that Gosset is a very good champagne house producing high quality champagne even if this is not my favorite champagne style. Almost all the Gosset champagnes (even at non-vintage level) have great complexity.
As with other 1998 champagne, I still find the acidity in this champagne seems to be sticking out a bit. However, this is still a very delicious and complex champagne and with very good ageing potential. I truly believe it would be great in a few years. Today, the wine has very intense aromas already showing hints of aged champagne such as honey and sherry aromas. In palate, flavours of lemon and yeast became more obvious. In short, a very good champagne worth an recommendation.
Pruchase: Watsons Wine Cellar (Original $1,188 / Special $998)