Clandestin Les Semblables Austral

When the boyfriend or girlfriend of a son or daughter first arrives into a family, they are an intruder. Add to that someone who is an outsider with different traditions, ideas and values, and it is not going to be easy to build a good relationship between father-in-law and son-in-law. However, this doesn't happen very often. There are many relationships between political families that work perfectly and have even been the beginning of some great projects. This is exactly what happened with the established Champagne maker Bertrand Gautherot and his son-in-law Benoït Dossot. The two of them, capturing the overlooked potential of some old plots in a cool area in the Côte des Bar, in Buxières Sur Arce (Aube), decided to join forces to showcase the value of these soils under the name Clandestin.

These plots, which face south and are slightly warmer, are where Clandestin Les Semblables Austral comes from. This is a sparkling wine made from Pinot Noir grapes growing in a strongly calcareous terroir with clay and marl. The vines have Ecocert certification and are cultivated with organic and biodynamic treatments. In the winery, vinification is carried out according to the champenoise method and with minimal intervention. Firstly, the whole grape bunches are gently pressed and the resulting must ferments spontaneously with native yeasts. The wine is then aged in 350 and 500 litre used oak barrels and undergoes a second fermentation in the bottle with 15 months of aging on its lees. Finally, it is disgorged with a dosage of 0 gr/l.

Clandestin Les Semblables Austral is made from a modern concept and by seeing the potential in some unique terroirs in the southernmost region, hence the name Austral. A fresh and vibrant AOC Champagne sparkling wine that is pure Pinot Noir.