Philipponnat Royale Reserve Brut (375ML half-bottle)
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Wine
Enthusiast -
Robert
Parker - Decanter
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Wine
Spectator -
Jeb
Dunnuck - Vinous
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
The Brut Royale Réserve is a supple, fresh and fruity wine of great delicacy. On the nose there is citrus, red fruits and delicately yeasty fresh bread. The taste has crisp lime, fruity red currants and black berries and a smooth, well-structured finish. Its quality is apparent in the extreme finesse and persistency of its bubbles. A champagne to be enjoyed at any time!
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This is the nonvintage Champagne from this producer. With its richness and high percentage of Pinot Noir, it reflects the house style. Touches of spice and a light structure give shape to the white fruits. Drink now.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Disgorged in June 2020 with eight grams per liter dosage, the latest release of Philipponnat's NV Brut Royale Réserve is based on the 2016 vintage, with 27% reserve wines. Offering up aromas of peach, pear and plum mingled with apple blossom and sweet pastry, it's medium to full-bodied, fleshy and expressive, with a pillowy mousse and a generous core of fruit, underpinned by bright acids.
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Decanter
Always open in the exposition of the origins of its wines, Philipponnat has upped the stakes of late by not only adding foudres to its vinification armoury but also increasing volumes from two separate Réserves Perpétuelles. The result is impressive; Pinot power writ large in red fruit and biscuity complexity, with resonance on the back palate, the ensemble still harnessed by disarmingly energetic freshness.
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Wine Spectator
A fragrant element of lightly toasted hazelnut is a rich base note in this fine and creamy Champagne, layered with finely meshed flavors of baked white cherry, lemon curd, spun honey and pickled ginger. Plush in texture, with a fine spine of lemony acidity providing focus and definition.
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Jeb Dunnuck
A pale silver/straw hue, the NV Champagne Royal Reserve Brut is 67% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay, and the rest Meunier from the base vintage of 2019. It was disgorged in January 2023, with 8 grams per liter dosage. It’s fresh and inviting on opening, with balanced aromas of toast, almond, orange blossoms, and raspberry. Medium-bodied, it’s focused and assertive on the palate, with an elegant touch, and it tapers slowly, with a fine mousse and a long finish. This is a versatile entry from Philipponnat.
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Vinous
The NV Brut Royale Réserve (base 2018) is a very pretty, entry-level offering from Philipponnat. Crushed flowers, green pear, spice and a touch of chamomile all grace this soft, open-knit NV Champagne. The blend is 69% Pinot Noir, 28% Chardonnay and 3% Meunier, with 26% reserve wines. Dosage is 8 grams per liter
The Philipponnat family have been growing grapes in Champagne since 1522. The House was founded in 1910 by Pierre Philipponnat. Charles Philipponnat took over as CEO in 1999 and has improved the quality and production vastly by implementing smaller oak barrels, keeping different vineyard plots separate and utilizing only the first press. The jewel in the crown of the House is the historic and iconic 5.5 hectares 'Clos des Goisses' vineyard that sits on a steep, south-facing 45° slope starting at the Marne River. This is one of the warmest vineyard sites in all of Champagne and is planted to Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. In 1935 'Clos des Goisses' was the first single vineyard Champagne produced and it would take over 50 years for other Houses to start producing serious Champagne just from a single Clos.
Philipponnat applies natural methods to work the soil, hoeing by hand and plowing with horses. The House's expertise is particularly apparent in its use of the solera process. This technique is a very longstanding House tradition; it consists of keeping reserve wines in oak barrels and including them in non-vintage blends (in a proportion of one quarter to one third) and using this blend as a reserve wine for the following blend.
This progressive dilution allows every bottle to retain a trace of previous years' wines blended since the very beginning. Successive Cellar Masters have attached great importance to handing down this expertise. Philipponnat was the first Champagne House to indicate the main year used in its non-vintage blends, the dosage, and the date of disgorgement on back labels, informing consumers and wine experts of the characteristics of each cuvée.
A term typically reserved for Champagne and Sparkling Wines, non-vintage or simply “NV” on a label indicates a blend of finished wines from different vintages (years of harvest). To make non-vintage Champagne, typically the current year’s harvest (in other words, the current vintage) forms the base of the blend. Finished wines from previous years, called “vins de reserve” are blended in at approximately 10-50% of the total volume in order to achieve the flavor, complexity, body and acidity for the desired house style. A tiny proportion of Champagnes are made from a single vintage.
There are also some very large production still wines that may not claim one particular vintage. This would be at the discretion of the winemaker’s goals for character of the final wine.
Associated with luxury, celebration, and romance, the region, Champagne, is home to the world’s most prized sparkling wine. In order to bear the label, ‘Champagne’, a sparkling wine must originate from this northeastern region of France—called Champagne—and adhere to strict quality standards. Made up of the three towns Reims, Épernay, and Aÿ, it was here that the traditional method of sparkling wine production was both invented and perfected, birthing a winemaking technique as well as a flavor profile that is now emulated worldwide.
Well-drained, limestone and chalky soil defines much of the region, which lend a mineral component to its wines. Champagne’s cold, continental climate promotes ample acidity in its grapes but weather differences from year to year can create significant variation between vintages. While vintage Champagnes are produced in exceptional years, non-vintage cuvées are produced annually from a blend of several years in order to produce Champagnes that maintain a consistent house style.
With nearly negligible exceptions, . These can be blended together or bottled as individual varietal Champagnes, depending on the final style of wine desired. Chardonnay, the only white variety, contributes freshness, elegance, lively acidity and notes of citrus, orchard fruit and white flowers. Pinot Noir and its relative Pinot Meunier, provide the backbone to many blends, adding structure, body and supple red fruit flavors. Wines with a large proportion of Pinot Meunier will be ready to drink earlier, while Pinot Noir contributes to longevity. Whether it is white or rosé, most Champagne is made from a blend of red and white grapes—and uniquely, rosé is often produce by blending together red and white wine. A Champagne made exclusively from Chardonnay will be labeled as ‘blanc de blancs,’ while ones comprised of only red grapes are called ‘blanc de noirs.’