Goutorbe Special Club 2012

There’s a depth to this wine that only arrives after a decade of quiet patience in bottle. The 2012 vintage in Champagne had the bones for greatness from the start, but here, now, it feels less like promise and more like full maturity. This is Champagne with real bottle age, perfect for enjoyment now.

The first aromas feel warmly familiar: baked apple skin, lemon oil and toasted brioche, followed by something deeper and more Aÿ-specific, with Pinot Noir bringing roasted hazelnut, chalk dust and a faint savory note of warm bread. TThere’s a subtle oxidative edge in the best sense: not tired, but gently burnished, with a warm, nutty depth.

On the palate, the mousse is fine and integrated, acting less as sparkle and more as texture. Orchard fruit has shifted from fresh to golden, pear compote, apple tarte tatin, layered with almond paste, honeycomb and a saline, chalky minerality that pulls everything taut again. The acidity is still there, but no longer sharp, more structural than pointed, carrying the wine into a long, savory finish marked by crushed limestone and a faint echo of citrus peel.

This is Champagne entering its most compelling chapter, where youthful brightness gives way to nuance and real bottle-age complexity: golden fruit, brioche and hazelnut depth, fine mousse and a long, chalky finish. It’s ready now, but it has the structure to hold and gain more toasted, nutty character over the next several years.