Philipponnat

Blanc de Noirs, 2008

Name: Blanc de Noirs
Brand: Philipponnat

92/100

Vinous

Available Vintages

all 2012 2014 2015 2018

delivery

in bond

Justerini & Brooks Tasting note

The generous intensity of the 2012 vintage is obvious from the get-go as this comes charging out of the gates with notes of brandy snap, autumn raspberry and salted ginger biscuits. The palate is rich, broad and inviting yet there’s plenty of structure and freshness to ensure each mouthful of golden fruit simply makes you want to come back for more. This is a first-rate bottle that is drinking beautifully now, with all the ripe Pinot Noir fruit you’d expect from these maestros of Mareuil. Philipponnat’s Blanc de Noirs 2012 has a superb pitch and definition to the rich, spiced red fruit character. It was a growing season that season that particularly suited Pinot Noir; the crop naturally thinned by hail and frost, allowed to achieve excellent ripeness under warm September skies. Tasted now on numerous occasions, and it is without doubt the best rendition of this cuvee Philipponant has made. It takes the wonderful steely line of the 2008 and covers it in an extra layer of bold, precise, concentrated fruit. Beautifully structured, it has a high definition mousse that caresses the palate, supporting expressive notes of beignet lemon peel, golden spices and bright red fruits, all underpinned by a beam of fabulous acidity. It has huge character but also precision, with as much emphasis on flavour as freshness. It’s a delicious combination and a year after disgorgement (carried out in May 2018), it is in a very good place indeed.

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GUARANTEED PROVENANCE

Provenance in fine wine

When it comes to purchasing wine, provenance is of utmost importance. A wine’s history – where it’s sourced from and how it’s been stored – can have an enormous influence on the eventual enjoyment it provides. At Justerini & Brooks, we can trace nearly every case back to the domaine, estate or Château it originally came from; we ship from over 200 wine producers throughout the world.

Wines not bought directly from the vineyard are either sourced from trusted suppliers, with whom we share the same philosophy and rigour in buying, or from our own network of Cellarers customers. These customers’ wines are stored in optimal conditions in Octavian Corsham and, in the vast majority of cases, have been stored by us since the wine was first shipped. We do not purchase wine from auctions.

We feel it is equally important to for our customers that the case they buy and leave in storage with us is exactly the same case they subsequently have delivered. This may sound obvious and straightforward, yet we are one of very few merchants to have taken measures to ensure this.

We have created a system where every case is independent, thereby ensuring a trail of ownership and peace of mind for every customer.

The Journey

Justerinis ensures that every case of wine stored with Cellarers (Wines) Ltd has a unique identifier and customer’s name, almost unheard of in the industry as it is expensive to administer. These details are printed and placed on every case which is logged and recorded under your account name and kept in the world’s most renowned storage facility, Octavian Corsham.

This information is sent from our systems to the warehouse every day to ensure the trail of ownership is verified and upheld.

While customer reserves are stored in Corsham, our physical stocks are kept in Hoddesdon, further providing a geographical separation between customers’ wines with Cellarers and Justerinis’ own stock.

Further Reassurance

Cellarers (Wines) Ltd is a legally separate limited company from Justerini & Brooks which currently holds approximately £450 million worth of customer reserves. It is fully insured to catastrophic loss. Many merchants will state that wine in their care is fully insured, but in reality this is on an individual case basis with insufficient cover for total loss as this is prohibitively expensive. The cover provided by Octavian and Justerini & Brooks is unmatched.

Cellarers (Wines) Ltd is audited by PwC every year.

Critic Reviews

92/100

Josh Raynolds,

Vinous

Light yellow-gold. Leesy pear, melon and peach aromas are complicated by suggestions of baking spices, yellow rose and anise. Rich and supple on the palate, offering powerful orchard and pit fruit flavors and intense spiciness. Gains weight on the long, smoky finish but maintains energy and focus thanks to a core of zesty minerality. Disgorged in February, 2014.

date of review 12/2014

product details

Specifications

Country:

Region:

Appellation:

Producer:

style:

Grape Variety:

Chardonnay/Pinot Noir

abv:

12%

allergen information

This product may contain sulphites. Full allergen information is available upon request, please call our Customer Relations Team on +44 (0)20 7484 6430.