If these walls could talk

One of the most iconic clos of Champagne, the 1.85-hectare Clos du Mesnil in the outskirts of Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, was sealed with walls in 1698 for reasons unknown. The village grew in size, and within 100 years the plot was surrounded by housing. The walls protected it from being dug up, in addition to creating a special microclimate for the vines to flourish. The parcel landed in the hands of the Krug brothers Henri and Remi in the 1970s, who saw the uniqueness of the plot and ventured into single-vineyard Champagnes, breaking the dogma of blending in the region.

A secluded garden surrounded by thick hedges and closed by an iron gate, Clos Sainte-Sophie, on the top of the Montgueux hill, is a recent addition to the ever-expanding list of clos Champagnes. In the late 19^th century, it was the garden of Marcel Dupont, a professor of agriculture. He used it as a plant nursery, from which two Japanese students took the country’s first vitis vinifera cultivars. Thanks to this, the Koshu Valley vineyards of Japan carry names like Montgueux and Clos Saint-Sophie, according to Emmanuel Lassaigne of Jacques Lassaigne, the master of cuvée Clos Saint-Sophie since the 2010 vintage.

A single-vineyard wine in Champagne is only interesting if there is something special about the site. Philipponnat’s magnificent Clos des Goisses in Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, overlooking the Marne Canal comprises 5.8 hectares. Thus, walls have little to do with its special microclimate. But pay a visit to the steep, south-facing site that sits on pure chalk, and you feel a sense of place reflected in the bottle. In recent years, its unique terroir has inspired Charles Philipponnat to create two additional single-vineyard cuvées from it, Clos des Goisses Juste Rosé (1999) and Les Cintres (2006).

Scarcity comes at a price

Size is not a constraint when it comes to declaring a clos. The biggest of them is Pommery’s enormous 25-hectare Les Clos Pompadour, a collection of three vineyard sites adjacent to the winery in Reims. However, only a small fraction of its production has been used to produce cuvée Les Clos Pompadour since 2002, when Vranken acquired the brand. The smallest clos, then again, is the 0.08-hectare Le Petit Clos of Jean Vesselle in Bouzy.

Clos Champagnes typically represent the pinnacle of the producer’s range, and their scarcity raises the prices even further. Not all of them come with hefty price tags, but some belong among Champagne’s most valuable and collectable wines. The top three far exceed the £1,000 threshold, with Krug Clos d’Ambonnay leading the way at £2,500 for the latest release. Bollinger Vieilles Vignes Francaises follows at £1,900, and Krug Clos du Mesnil at £1,600.

A rare clos collection

The Swedish collector and Champagne lover Marina Olsson organised an exceptional clos Champagne tasting for her Gomseglet Champagne & Wine Connoisseurs Club in Malmö in March 2023. During the full day of semi-blind tasting, she shared with us a magnificent line up of 47 champagnes from 32 clos, in what was probably one of the largest ever tastings of clos Champagnes to be held.

What follows are my tasting notes from the event, with top positions going to the usual suspects, the most famous names on the single-vineyard wine scene, from Krug to Bollinger and Philipponnat. There is no discussing value for money here: Krug Clos d’Ambonnay is not 10 times better than Krug Grande Cuvée. But for sure, it is a phenomenal wine. ‘A diamond one wishes to show on its own,’ as said by Remi Krug when discussing the raison d’être of the house’s single-vineyard wines.

Click to skip to the list of Champagnes tasted

Champagne Clos in 2024: a full list

• Clos du Mesnil (Mesnil sur Oger), Champagne Krug
• Clos d’Ambonnay (Ambonnay), Champagne Krug
• Clos du Moulin (Chigny les Roses), Champagne Cattier
• Clos Cazals (Oger), Champagne Claude Cazals
• Clos des Goisses (Mareuil-sur-Aÿ), Champagne Philipponnat (Producing also Clos des Goisses Juste Rosé and Les Cintres)
• Clos des Faubourgs de Notre Dame (Vertus), Champagne Veuve Fourny
• Vieilles Vignes Françaises (Clos Saint Jacques and Chaudes-Terres in Aÿ and previously Croix Rouge in Bouzy), Champagne Bollinger
• Clos Saint Hilaire (Mareuil-sur-Aÿ), Champagne Billecart-Salmon
• Clos Virgile (Beaumont-sur-Vesle), Champagne Paul Sadi (Portier)
• Clos des Chaulins (Pargny-les-Reims), Champagne Médot
• Le Petit Clos (Bouzy), Champagne Jean Vesselle
• Clos l’Abbé (Cramant), Champagne Hubert Soreau
• Clos des Belvals (Vertus), Champagne Person
• Clos des Bouveries (Vertus), Champagne Duval Leroy
• Clos Lanson (Reims), Champagne Lanson
• Le Clos (Pierry), Champagne Henri Mandois
• Clos des Bergeronneau (Villedommange), Champagne Florent Bergeronneau-Marion
• Clos de l’Abbaye (Vertus), Champagne Doyard
• Clos Pompadour (Reims), Champagne Pommery
• Le Clos (Bouzy), Champagne André Clouet
• Clos Jarot (Vandières), Champagne Nowack
• Clos Bourmault (Avize), Champagne Christian Bourmault
• Clos du Château de Bligny (Bligny – Aube), Champagne Château de Bligny
• Clos Rocher (Balnot-sur-Laignes), Champagne Jean-Michel Grémillet
• Clos Sainte-Sophie (Montgueux), Champagne Jacques Lassaigne
• Clos à Doré (Ludes), Champagne Doré Monmarthe
• Clos Barnaut (Bouzy), Champagne Edmond Barnaut
• Clos de Marzilly (Hermonville), Champagne Olivier Fagot
• Clos des Monnaies (Damery), Champagne Goutorbe-Bouillot
• Clos de Cumières (previously des Champions, Cumières), Champagne Jestin
• Le Clos d’Hortense (Aÿ), Champagne Pierre Leboeuf
• Clos des Maladries (Avize), Champagne Etienne Calsac
• Clos des Trois Clochers (Villers Allerand), Champagne Leclerc Briant
• Clos du Montdorin (Charly-sur-Marne), Champagne Léguillette-Romelot
• Clos 667, Champagne Boivin
• Clos des Graviers (Le Breuil), Champagne Pierre Mignon
• Clos Jacquin (Avize), Champagne Pierre Callot
• Clos Colin (Bouzy), red wine production for rosés, Champagne Veuve Clicquot
• Clos Saint Jean (Moussy), Champagne José Michel
• Clos des Fourches, Champagne Lejeune-Dirvang

Clos that no longer produce a specific cuvée:

• Clos des Plants de Chêne (Moussy), Champagne José Michel
• Clos Jacquesson (Dizy), Champagne Jacquesson