Les Passagers “Fiole” Brut Nature 2023

Wine description for Les Passagers “Fiole” Brut Nature 2023 by Clandestin

Benoît Doussot is a Burgundian in Champagne. Trained in Beaune and schooled under Jean-Philippe Fichet in Meursault, he arrived in the Côte des Bar in 2015 – that southern part of Champagne whose Jurassic soils have more in common geologically with Chablis than with Reims. His micro-négoce Clandestin works exclusively with organic grapes to produce lean, undosaged Champagnes. The Fiole belongs to the “Les Passagers” line – “The Travellers”: single-vineyard wines from parcels that are not under permanent contract. This Champagne may well remain a one-off.

Colour & appearance

Lemon yellow with a fine, lively mousse.

Nose

Intense and multi-layered: Amalfi lemon, lemon curd, apricot and pear, behind which lie brioche and toasted grain. Delicate spice notes of anise, caraway and fennel seed, along with a hint of smoke and salty, iodine-like nuances.

Palate

Clear and full of character: ripe fruit meets chalky minerality and a fine creaminess. The cool limestone imprint brings freshness and drive, while the ripe vintage lends this Brut Nature a subtle extract sweetness – entirely without dosage.

Finish

Long, taut and salty-iodine – a finish that recalls Chablis rather than classic notions of Champagne.

Terroir & origin

A small Chardonnay parcel in Ville-sur-Arce in the Côte des Bar, at 234 metres above sea level: clay over Kimmeridgian limestone, Jurassic sedimentary rock teeming with seashells. These soils provide the wine’s pronounced minerality and tension.

Grape variety & vinification

Pure Chardonnay (Blanc de Blancs). Following the 2023 hand harvest, the base wine fermented spontaneously and matured for 15 months in wooden casks – Doussot prefers larger vessels of 500 to 600 litres, which keep the wine lean. Disgorged in September 2025, without dosage.

Food recommendations

The salty tension calls for something from the sea: oysters, ceviche or sole in beurre noisette. It also makes a fine match with Comté or goat’s cheese.

Special features

A single-vineyard Champagne in tiny quantities – the parcel is not under permanent contract, so the 2023 vintage may well be the only one of its kind. Whoever secures a bottle here is drinking a chapter that will not be repeated.