André Clouet: The Full Collection

We’ve written a number of blogs about our Bouzy Champagne producer, André Clouet, and each reads rather the same – gushing praise, riveting tales and critic scores aplenty.

But each blog has focussed incredibly heavily on an individual cuvée at a time, so we thought it’s time to make the ultimate ‘umbrella’ blog for this wondermaker. The Clouet ‘hub’ if you will.

First, if you wish to read the deep dives we’ve published in the past we highly encourage you to, the links are below;

We first brought on Champagne André Clouet in 2017, and we were astounded at the way it managed to capture the hearts and the palates of both our staff and customers immediately.

At the time, we had only brought on their NV Grandé Reserve Brut. It wasn’t one of the ‘big’ Champagne names but it was one that carried with it a lot of respect, with a detectable electric undercurrent of intrigue reserved for only the most ‘boutique’ and ‘in-the-know’ producers.

We soon added their No.5 Brut Rosé and their V6 Experience cuvées to the line up, who have in time also garnered a passionate group of fans here in NZ.

Then in 2024, we opted to bring in a small allocation of NV Chalky Blanc de Blancs and sold out by word of mouth before we’d had a chance to properly launch it. “Loud and clear…” we thought, and we’re now on our 4th order of this clearly phenomenal cuvée.

Shortly after Chalky’s success, we added the 2005 Dream Vintage, 2015 Millesime Empire and the NV ‘Un Jour de 1911’ to our stable, rounding out the offering to a seriously respectable 7 phenomenal champagnes.

• Tyson Stelzer, 94 Points: “Release after release, year after year, I have always marvelled at the lemon blossom freshness that Clouet manages to capture in pinot noir from two of Champagne’s most powerful terroirs. Here it is again, in a captivating interplay of fleshy mirabelle plums, white peaches, crunchy golden delicious apples, and even a hint of pepper. Wild honey and mixed spice join the maelstrom along the way, gliding obediently into a well defined finish of soft minerality and integrated dosage.”
• Lobenberg Wine Guide, 93 Points: “Strong and lush, very creamy, mild acidity, great perlage, very intense and expressive. You could easily decant it. No branded champagne can achieve this extremely good substance in terms of quality. Fantastically creamy apple note, nuts and pear in the aftertaste, infinitely charming and everybody’s darling. Unique in the price range.”
• Decanter, 92 Points: “Incredible value for a blanc de noirs (100% Pinot Noir) grower Champagne from the grand cru vineyards of Bouzy. It shows gorgeous aromas of stone fruit, citrus and strawberry, with complex brioche nuances, remarkable balance, ongoing elegance and a rich, refined, persistent finish.”
• Wine Spectator, 90 Points: “Whole-grain bread, malt and candied berry aromas and flavors highlight this intense yet creamy Champagne, which picks up a floral accent as it cruises to a long, mouthwatering finish.”

Honestly, this entry level NV cuvée is way better than any champagne in this tier has any right to be, but that’s what you get when you veer from the path less travelled and look at some of these genius growers.

The Grande Réserve boasts a super eye-catching deep blue label with gold leaf filigree designs that hark back to the Clouet family’s roots as printers for the French monarchy in centuries past, and the drop inside is just as fine. In Clouet’s own words:

• Tyson Stelzer, 94 Points: “Boasting a full ruby hue, No5 is notably deeper than No3 in both appearance and flavour. As flamboyant and exuberant as its maker himself, it brims with wild strawberries, raspberries and morello cherries, encapsulating that wonderful talent of great pinot to build and rise triumphantly on the finish. For all of its generosity, it never deviates from the control and precision of the house, focused by bright acidity and the omnipresent chalk minerality that underscores this legendary village. A great expression of the freshness, mineral airiness and presence of Bouzy pinot noir.”
• Bob Campbell, 95 Points: “Bold, full-flavoured rosé Champagne with pronounced fruit and floral flavours including red rose petal, pot-pourri, and baguette crust. Delicious wine in quite a mellow style with restrained acidity. Seriously good Champagne.”
• Cameron Douglas, 93 Points: “Floral, fresh and distinctive with a mix of light red berry fruit aromas, balanced and even autolysis and moderate complexity. Quite delicious on the palate with a red cherry, red apple and fine red strawberry core, baked goods and a whisper of spice.”

A story the family loves to tell is that of André Clouet’s memorable interaction with Marie Antoinette.

In 1770, the future Queen of France visited the vineyards in Bouzy and a dinner in her honour was organised in a castle not far from the village. Andre Clouet was in attendance and decided to entertain the guests at the Queen’s table by adding a few drops of red wine from their vineyards to the white wine. Known as “Bouzy Rouge,” this Vin des Sacres, was the red wine served to celebrate the crowning of the French Kings.

On that night, it’s said the ladies’ eyes began to sparkle with amazement as the white wine became pink!

The men raised a toast to the Queen and André Clouet proclaimed: “This is how we perfect Pinot Noir in Champagne! Now the Burgundians will just have to deal with it!”

A few years later, a cousin placed an order for some of this ‘pink wine’, but sparkling this time, for her “crazy English friends!”

• Wine Advocate, 93 Points: “Aged for six years on the second lees, the yellow-golden NV Brut The V6 Experience is a Bouzy Pinot Noir that displays great purity and intensity but also reduction on the mineral-scented nose. This is deep and complex, but it needs all our patience and perhaps even a decanter or at least a big glass and lots of aeration. The palate is rich and powerful, firmly structured, very tight and still astringent on the finish, but there is so much finesse paired with power, concentration and fruit, which give the V6 a promising future. The wine just starts a bit slowly (like a rocket, which is pictured on the label), but it will most probably go very steep in a couple of years. I have[n’t] ever had this cuvée before, so I can only guess, though. (Tasted 2021)”
• Tyson Stelzer, 92 Points: “Jean-Francois describes pinot noir as entering a phase he dubs ‘The Whirlwind’ in its sixth year of maturation. The rest of his inspiration is impossible to put into words, but clicking on ‘Cuvée Design Specification’ on his website will put you on the right trajectory. For the exuberance of Bouzy Pinot Noir and not inconsiderable age, the freshness packed into this cuvée is something to behold. Grapefruit tang meets crunchy red apple fruit, contrasting the generosity and spice of the village and the tension of zero dosage. Get on board.”
• Vinum Magazine, 18/20 Points: “What a champagne! A single-varietal Pinot Noir, “V6” stands for six years of aging on the lees. The golden yellow color alone promises much. Expansive, baroque, ripe aromas with candied fruits, apricot pastries, dates, and caramel. Gripping on the palate, it’s superbly present, with delicate fruitiness and wonderfully juicy acidity.”

The V6 experience is one close to Jean-Francois Clouet’s heart and is possibly one of the most underrated champagnes in our portfolio, as it showcases the brilliance of pinot noir and expert winemaking.

Being based in Bouzy, Jean-Francois is a pinot guy. He works wonders with all varietals, but pinot is where he shines and what his family have been growing for generations. This intimate knowledge gives him incredible insight and has allowed him to really hone in on the quirks and patterns in pinot winemaking. Something he’s noticed is how pinot reaches a really special stage of maturation at around 6 years…

“Pinot Noir does not mature directly, in linear fashion. Upon reaching its 6th year, it passes into a phase known as “The Whirlwind”,” Clouet explains. “Propelled by an unseen force it reaches outward, taking on another dimension. The wine becomes charged with energy and vibrations. It glows… and becomes transcendent! Deep, bright, effervescent… Taking off and on approach to Celestial Harmony. As you taste it, prepare yourself to be launched like a rocket ship toward a mysterious, resplendent Star-shine, emanating from the Pinot Noir Galaxy.

3.2.1…. Blast off!”

• Lobenberg Wine Guide, 96 Points: “What does 200 million years of manifest minerality taste like? Jean-Francois Clouet put the answer in this bottle. A completely new wine in Clouet’s portfolio, bottled in a special white-coated bottle with a matching box in a chalk cliff design… As the name suggests, Chalky tastes like the salty-chalky purism of the chalk soils of Champagne, but it wouldn’t be a Clouet if it didn’t also exude a wonderful, melting charm and seductive appeal. 200 million years of minerality poured into the bottle as liquid chalk, what a smooth, delicious mineral hammer!”
• Sally Hillman: “Taking to the Chardonnay vines with the precision of a Renaissance sculptor, Jean-François Clouet carves a brand-new, pure and flawless Blanc de Blancs cuvée from Champagne’s deep, chalky bedrock.”
• Falstaff Magazine, 93 Points: “Medium golden yellow. Quite classic on the nose with citrus notes, exotic fruit nuances of mango and passion fruit. Elegant on the palate with a fine mousse, a noticeable impression of sweetness and a certain minerality. Complex even in the long aftertaste with smoky nuances.”

‘Chalky’ draws reference to the very soils which made Champagne famous.

“No matter what I do, chalky soil is stuck to the soles of my shoes. It’s been a part of me since I was a child!”
– Jean-François Clouet

Chalky is a particularly noteworthy addition to the Clouet lineup in that it’s a deviation from their cornerstone varietal, Pinot Noir. The Chalky Blanc de Blancs was aged an astonishing 72 months on lees – or six years. The base wines of this initial NV release come from the “late-ripening, almost brutally brilliant year” (Lobenburg) 2013. Disgorgement was in 2021, with a dosage of 6g. The resulting wine is creamy, mineral and – you guessed it – chalky.

• James Suckling, 93 Points: “If you like mature champagnes then this has a lot of depth and offers a lot of pleasure. Tons of nutty character (also a touch of peanut) and plenty of toasty notes, the dried-fruit aromas very much in the background. Long and intense finish that’s properly dry. 100% chardonnay. Drink now.”
• Lobenberg, 95-96+ Points): “The 2005 vintage gave the Chardonnay wines exceptional quality. Fresh, noble and with a long finish. They develop aromas of white flowers, citrus fruits and mineral notes. Enjoyable early and yet long-lasting.”
• Tyson Stelzer, 90 Points: “Jean-François prefers his 2005 Dream Collection to 2008. Both accurately articulate the mood of their contrasting seasons, the 2005 is already a golden yellow hue and brimming with luscious golden delicious apple and pineapple fruit, true to this warm vintage. It’s a spicy and rich style and it relies on this generosity in order to carry the dry phenolic grip and coffee and cocoa notes of the season.”

Everyone knows vintage Champagne has a little something extra to offer – we’ve blogged about it pretty extensively before, which we’ll touch on here but like all his cuvées, André Clouet adds extra to that extra.

In their own words; “The Dream Vintage collection is a masterful gourmet retrospective dedicated to the great vintages of Champagne. This collection is crafted with a base of Chardonnay, known for its elegance and finesse. The equipment is reminiscent of the great Cadillac classics: Fiesta Red, Chrystal Green, Ebony Black, and other colors that make big dreams come true.”

• Lobenberg, 94 Points (2023): “Powerful, direct and intense. Terrific fabric like the 2012 one, but just as durable. Vital acidity and high concentration from low yields, with fine tannins in the intensive, long finish, which shows a lot of pressure and arrives youthfully agile, of exceptional class. Possesses an explosive potential with a creamy intense body. The small amount of Chardonnay also gives it some delicacy. He can certainly remain at the extremely high level for over 20 years of permanent change towards maturity.”

The ‘Millésimé Empire’ celebrates and captures Napoleon’s ‘Chasseurs à Cheval’ (‘mounted hunters’) – courageous and daring! “The Millésimé Empire is a cavalry charge of flavors, where the finesse of Chardonnay cuts like a blade, and the strength of Pinot Noir echoes the power of a noble mount. Long live the emperor!”

• Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate, 96 Points (2021): “The NV Un jour de 1911… is another 100% Bouzy Pinot Noir with an ancient label design. The shining golden-colored cuvée combines ripeness, complexity and finesse with intensity and elegance on both the nose and palate. It’s a powerful and rich yet very fine and balanced Champagne with great freshness and complex length. It is juicy and intense but also highly delicate, and its mineral tension and persistent finish make it a first-class wine for elaborate dishes. A great Champagne, with a label that doesn’t give any more detailed information regarding vintages or disgorgement date, but we know it’s always a 50/50 blend of three vintages (including one great millésime at least 10 years old) and reserve wines from a solera system… You shouldn’t drink it too early, as it would be a waste of its talents. Drink 2021 – 2033.
• Falstaff, 95 Points (2020): “Rich, bright golden yellow. Intense bouquet, brioche notes, ripe stone fruit, dried apple and a little nougat. Complex, full-bodied with exotic hints of ripe pineapple on the palate. Very finely tuned mousse, salty underlay, with fresh acid structure. A creamy honey touch on the finish, full-bodied with noteworthy length. Very good ageing potential. Great.”
• James Suckling, 95 Points (2021): “A rich and expansive champagne with tons of mature aromas of dried fruit (apricots!) and candied orange. Teeters on the edge of decadence, but has enough vitality to stay on the right side of that line. Plenty of textural complexity on the palate and a long, chalky finish that keeps giving and giving. Spot-on balance. Drink or hold.”

Only the top 10% of their Grand Cru classified grapes (which are some of the best Pinot Noir grapes in all of Champagne) are used for this wine, and it shows!In Clouet’s words, this wine is a “Champagne fairytale’…

“Once upon a time, a few precious bottles were hidden away in a small cellar for more than 80 years. By a stroke of luck they were found and became the inspiration for a champagne tribute to the Golden Age we like to call “Un jour de 1911”. (Translation: “One day in 1911”).

We were overcome with sentimental nostalgia when we recovered those bottles, saving them from oblivion. Memories of old Aunt Jenny came flooding back. She had always spoken about them with a sparkle in her eye, remembering their presence at every resplendent celebration and happy occasion during those dazzling early years of the 1900s.

Carefully packed with straw, protected in their wooden cases, each bottle was beautifully dressed with a gold foil collar, painstakingly applied by hand and shapely suggestive of a woman’s plunging neckline. Belle Époque graphic design on the labels transported us back to the Golden Age of France, a time of prosperity, optimism and creative freedom when the arts began to flourish.”

The Clouet family history in Bouzy dates back to the 1400’s. Before their vinous adventures, the Clouet ancestors were the appointed printers for the French monarchs.

Over the next 200 years and through several generations, the family slowly accumulated vineyards in Bouzy before finally, in 1741 they first started to make Champagne. Cellars were dug into the chalky soils and the family set down their roots officially in the town they’d spent several centuries in under the watchful eye of one André Clouet.

“During Creation, when God grew weary of sculpting the mountings, razing the deserts and firing up the volcanoes, he treated himself to a few moments of pleasure. He designed a little earthly paradise called Bouzy.”

André Clouet’s descendants took over his estate, ensuring that it remained in the family. The property had aged but has now been modernised, and the team working to perpetuate the House of André Clouet is inspired above all by the desire to preserve the personality of its champagnes.

“Jean-François is deeply rooted in the heritage of his village,” explains Tyson Stelzer in his book, The Champagne Guide 2020-2021 Edition VI, “He still possesses his family’s request for a deed for the purchase of land in Champagne by their ancestors in 1689 and a letter from the 1820’s requesting an order of Rosé to be sent to Paris.”

A story the family loves to tell is that of André Clouet’s memorable interaction with Marie Antoinette. In 1770, the future Queen of France visited the vineyards in Bouzy and a dinner in her honour was organised in a castle not far from the village. Andre Clouet was in attendance and decided to entertain the guests at the Queen’s table by adding a few drops of red wine from their vineyards to the white wine. Known as “Bouzy Rouge,” this Vin des Sacres, was the red wine served to celebrate the crowning of the French Kings.

On that night, it’s said the ladies’ eyes began to sparkle with amazement as the white wine became pink!

The men raised a toast to the Queen and André Clouet proclaimed: “This is how we perfect Pinot Noir in Champagne! Now the Burgundians will just have to deal with it!”

A few years later, a cousin placed an order for some of this ‘pink wine’, but sparkling this time, for her “crazy English friends!”

Jean-François is the larger-than-life current generation of the Clouet line and is at the helm of this family Estate. Growing up amongst the vines, the vineyards are in his blood. He’s been described as many things – a wizard, a wonder, a ringmaster… and all of these may be true but there’s no doubt his legacy will also recognise him as a phenomenal vigneron.

A fun story he enjoys telling pertains to the tanks and barrels that age the wines;

“When I was a little boy, I loved walking around the wine-making cellar. In my imagination, the enormous wine tanks transformed and became champions, guardians, protectors of the wine…

My Heroes! Creaking, wheezing, groaning, squealing, sweating… sometimes they even seemed to be laughing! I watched the noisy show, as some were gushing from their nozzles, while others were being filled up. I grew up learning to play with my heroes who live in the wine-cellars.

Each has its own name and personality to share and their attributes come alive in the wines:

Superman, Zeus, and Thor lend their power to the Cuvée Grande Reserve.

Laser, D’artagnan and Zorro transmit their intensity, tension and minerality to the Brut Silver.

Sophie Marceau, Heather Locklear and Michelle Pheiffer flirt beautifully with the Rosé.

Rocky comes out swinging to make a Dream Vintage!

As I blend to create champagne, I work to find the perfect balance of characteristics that come from all my remarkable, dauntless heroes: the Stainless Steel Giants.”

You can choose to take our word for it when it comes to Clouet’s brilliance, but if you don’t then you must listen to Tyson Stelzer.

Already quoted a few times in this piece, he is a multi-award winning wine writer, television host and producer and international speaker. Tyson has been named The International Wine & Spirit Communicator of the Year, The Australian Wine Communicator of the Year and The International Champagne Writer of the Year. He is the author and publisher of seventeen wine books, contributor to many wine magazines, a frequent judge and chair at Australian wine shows and a presenter at wine events in 12 countries. All this to say: he knows his wine and is great at articulating the magic where mere mortals fall short!

“Jean-François is a courageous visionary and an ebullient creative with the nous to bring his dreams to completion and the humility to gather round him the talent to make it happen.”

In 2017, Tyson published an article titled “Is this the most underrated champagne grower of all?” which is a poetic and beautiful summation of this Champagne House, which we’ve detailed below, or that you can read here.

“It’s always puzzled me that the remarkable, terroir-expressive champagnes of André Clouet never seem to come up among the rockstar growers of Champagne. And yet on the basis of his current cuvées, I have again anointed this little grower in the grand cru village of Bouzy among the top six growers in Champagne. This of course places him among the top sparkling growers on earth. My scores rank him equal to Dom Pérignon, Louis Roederer and Taittinger. And that’s mighty company!

For those in the know, the rare cuvées of André Clouet are immensely sought-after. You can’t buy these champagnes year-round in Australia, because they quickly sell out as soon as a shipment lands. Cru Bar in Brisbane recently told me of a pallet arriving and selling before the staff even had time to unpack it into the store.

I am always intrigued that something of the personality of the maker is translated into the character of all great wines. In this, the wines of Jean-François Clouet capture a profound and intriguing juxtaposition.

The man and his cuvées are deeply rooted into the multilayered and convoluted history of Champagne, arguably more than any other. He is the privileged custodian of eight hectares of estate vines in the best middle slopes of Bouzy and Ambonnay, the epicentre of pinot noir in Champagne. His family heritage in Bouzy extends back to 1492 and they have been making their own champagnes here since the early 1700s.

Every time I introduce new friends to Jean-François, he doesn’t first show us through his winery or cellars, doesn’t walk us through rows of vines, or even pour his champagnes. He takes us to the top of the vineyards, on the edge of the forest overlooking Bouzy, and recounts the remarkable sweep of history that has played out in view of this place over two millennia, and the role his own family has played in the stories: Attila the Hun, the Battle of the Catalaunian Fields, the birth of the monarchy, the crusades, the Templars, Marie Antoinette. ‘To understand Champagne you need to understand its political history,’ he says.

It’s a history that lives on in his champagnes, both in spectacularly classical labels designed by his great grandfather in 1911 (harking back to the family’s printer heritage, making books for the king since 1491), and in a traditional approach in the vineyards and the cellar. ‘I like the idea of the work of human hands in pruning, performing the same actions as my grandfather and even the Romans, who planted vines here 2000 years ago.’

Such deep heritage makes for a striking contrast to the flamboyant personality of Jean-François, dubbed by one of my recent guests as ‘a combination of winemaker and circus ringmaster.’

He is daringly creative, with a distinctly modern twist to his approach. It is his goal that some day none of his champagnes will have any dosage at all, an ideal that he rightly describes as revolutionary.

His are rich and concentrated expressions of pinot noir, wines of deep complexity, multifaceted interest and engaging character, yet with remarkable restraint and sense of control. Tasting after tasting confirm my impression that this small and relatively unknown grower ranks high among Champagne’s finest practitioners of pinot noir — and represents one of the best value of all.

And yet for all of his success, this extroverted young chef de cave doesn’t take himself too seriously. ‘Champagne is always for flirting!’ he grins.

Visits with Jean-François are always recounted as a highlight by my little tour groups in Champagne, and it has long been my dream to introduce my knowledgeable and entertaining friend in Australia.”