Odilon de Varine makes Gosset

In 2016, Odilon de Varine took over the role of chef-de-cave at Champagne Gosset, succeeding Jean-Pierre Mareigner, who had been the heart and soul of the winery for 33 long years. We sat down with Odilon to discuss the key topics that resonate with professionals: what makes Gosset unique, the practices that define its stylistic identity, and the personal challenges he anticipates in the near future.

“Though I’ve been with Gosset since 2006, my journey began earlier as the chef de caves at Deutz, where I spent more than a decade honing my craft. I initially joined Gosset as an oenologist and later transitioned into management. Gosset is a special house, with a vinification process that stands apart from most others.

Jean-Pierre Mareigner, the previous chef de cave, was not only a dear friend but a man of great spirit, who truly embodied the essence of Gosset. Today, Gosset remains the oldest Champagne house, originally producing still wines, much like the rest of the Champagne region. This heritage is central to our philosophy: we create wine first, and the bubbles merely serve to enhance its expression—a principle that continues to guide us.

Another significant aspect is that Gosset is family-owned, which brings a distinct philosophy to our operations—far removed from the impersonal touch of corporate management.

You’re correct; not many producers in Champagne focus on still wines, although global warming is making it easier to do so. Consider that Champagne is a relatively young region—it wasn’t until 1917 that annual production reached 100 million bottles. Back then, the vines were quite young, but now, they’re often 40 or 50 years old, making still wine production easier today than it was in the ’70s and ’80s. We experiment with still wines each year, though it’s not a primary focus. The reason is simple: crafting a still base wine for Champagne requires a different approach than making a ‘regular’ still wine. For Champagne, we prioritize vivacity, acidity, and freshness, which isn’t the goal in traditional still wine. So, the process begins differently, right from how we cultivate the grapes.

Ultimately, what sets different Champagne houses apart is their philosophy. Some producers make wine first and then add bubbles, while others see wine as merely a base for the bubbles. These differing philosophies translate into distinct approaches to vinification and aging. In Champagne, making great wine requires time—time in the cellar, time on the lees.

At Gosset, we employ two vinification methods. The first is for non-vintage (NV) wines, where the goal is consistency of flavor. We achieve this by blending wines from different sites, grape varieties, and reserve wines. This consistency is our biggest challenge each year. On the other hand, we approach vintage wines differently. At Gosset, we view each vintage as a snapshot of a particular year, with no preset recipe for vinification or blending. For example, our 2006 vintage was predominantly Pinot Noir, reflecting a year of ripe grapes, while the 2012 vintage, which is fresher and more elegant, was focused on Chardonnay to capture the vibrancy of that year. For me, every year must be a great year.

There’s no denying the current demand for so-called Grower Champagne, and in this vast sea, Gosset is a small yet significant player. We straddle the line between artisanal producers and big brands, occupying a unique niche. We’re large enough to source grapes from different sub-zones of Champagne, yet small enough to maintain uncompromising quality in our viticulture. We seek consistency in the quality of grapes from our growers, a challenging feat. Unlike large-scale producers, we blend wines from specific growers, ensuring our wines reflect their distinct origins. Gosset may be tiny, but we’re mighty.

Before becoming an oenologist, I studied chemistry. This background instilled in me a firm belief: the less chemistry you use, the better the wine. At Gosset, we don’t rely on blending formulas; instead, we conduct blind tastings to guide our decisions. Our focus is always on the wine and the outcome we aim to achieve.

Each year, I reject and sell about a third of our wine materials to other companies—those that, for various reasons, didn’t meet our standards. For me, this is a luxury—being able to select only the best and leave the rest. It’s a privilege I don’t take lightly.

We collaborate with approximately 200 winegrowers across Champagne, most of whom manage less than a hectare each. This small scale allows us to be selective about whom we buy from, what we purchase, and how it’s cultivated. Unlike houses with their own vineyards, we enjoy the flexibility to choose the best grapes each year. Many of our relationships with growers span four generations, and while we could theoretically change about a third of them annually, our primary focus is always on selecting the highest quality grapes.

Interestingly, most growers don’t know which cuvée their grapes will contribute to. I make it a point to ensure they have the opportunity to taste the wine crafted from their harvest. There’s a healthy, positive competition among them, but I avoid creating a hierarchy; our focus is on the quality of the wine, not on the specific attributes of individual plots.

A key aspect of our approach is that I don’t require the same grape maturity from all our vintners—after all, the final product is a blend. The diversity of our base wines, including our reserve wines, provides a safeguard against many potential issues. We have a distinctive policy regarding reserve wines: I’m not overly concerned with the vintage year of a reserve wine, as long as it contributes something essential to the blend—whether that’s roundness, length, acidity, or another desirable characteristic.

We begin crafting a blend with the current vintage’s wine, then we add our ‘spices’—the reserve wines—to enhance and balance the wine. A non-vintage brut typically incorporates wines from two or three different vintages, and we also utilize reserve wines from our solera system, making it difficult to pinpoint an exact blend.

At Gosset, we particularly value vineyards with very chalky soils, which impart a distinctive salinity to the wines. Champagne has plenty of such soils, but for me, vineyard exposure is even more critical. East-facing vineyards are ideal—not south-facing, which can lead to overripening. Mid-slope plots are the best, avoiding the extremes of the top or bottom of the hill. Out of Champagne’s more than 400 crus, we work with 60—quite a significant number.

One of Gosset’s hallmarks is our preservation of malic acid in the wines by avoiding malolactic fermentation. This approach retains the wine’s natural acidity, essential for maintaining its fruitiness and freshness. However, this also results in higher acidity, which we balance by extended aging on the lees.

We’re also deeply focused on the role of yeast in winemaking. Yeast has a reductive effect on wine, which allows us to reduce the use of sulfites by slowing down oxidation.

When it comes to filtration, we perform only one light filtration before bottling. Champagne doesn’t require heavy filtration, as the sediment naturally expels during disgorgement. I prefer to let the yeast settle naturally and depart on its own, which is why even our non-vintage wines spend four years aging in the cellar. While the legal requirement is 15 months, and three years for vintage Champagne, our basic brut is aged longer than some houses age their vintages. We produce just under a million bottles of wine annually and store around 6.5 million in our cellars!

We age our wines in the old chalk tunnels of Aÿ, with about two kilometers of corridors there and another 1.7 kilometers in Épernay. As we like to say in Champagne, we have more space underground than above!

The most challenging aspect of my job is the annual quest to capture the unique expression of each year in Gosset wines. Relying on a fixed recipe would be like signing a death sentence for creativity. Every year, we adapt our blends and winemaking techniques to reflect the characteristics of that specific vintage.

For our driest wines, like Celebris, we exclusively produce Extra Brut, which we believe offers the perfect balance. The longer you age a wine, the less sugar it needs to achieve the desired result. For Celebris, we keep it under six grams of sugar, and even less for the Rosé. These decisions are always made through blind tastings, with a keen focus on achieving harmony. It’s important to note that sugar levels can evolve as the wine ages, so consistency in flavor demands flexibility, adapting not just to the year but also to the dosage.

I find it quite challenging to practice organic viticulture in Champagne. Honestly, biodynamics is easier here, and it’s a subject I’m more inclined to discuss. More and more of our winegrowers are adopting biodynamic practices, and I strongly believe in this approach. In less than a decade, I anticipate that most grape growers in the region will be practicing biodynamics to some extent.

Working with the Cointreau family has been incredibly rewarding; they’ve essentially given me the keys to the house. In fact, I’m probably the biggest consumer of Gosset in the world! I believe you can only excel at something if you truly love it. We’re now launching wines that will age for 12 to 15 years, and honestly, I create them for myself first and then share them with the world. Champagne is a long game—you craft it today, sell it four, five, or even six years later, and once it’s bottled, there’s no turning back.

Jean-Pierre makes an effort to visit Champagne at least every two weeks, and we try to speak daily, discussing not just the wines but the overall situation. He’s very supportive, more of a mentor than an instructor. Jean-Pierre doesn’t participate in tasting blends—he says he doesn’t feel savvy enough for that—but when it comes to discussing dosage or launching a new cuvée, his opinion is invaluable to me.”