Champagne Clandestin is a new joint project between Bertrand Gautherot of Vouette & Sorbée and his righthand man, the young, energetic, Burgundian-trained Benoit Doussot. Needless to say both Bertrand and Benoit have a lot of experience with the terroirs around their village, so much so that their neighbors in Buxières-sur-Acre have been turning to them for assistance in setting their vineyards to rights after years of neglect.

Clandestin means hidden or secret and it refers to the source of this Champagne: the long-overlooked, west-facing parcels of Pinot Noir on Kimmeridgian soils as well as Chardonnay on Portlandian soils above Buxières. Southerly, easterly and southeastern-facing parcels have long been favored in the Aube because they are bathed in more sunlight for a longer portion of the day while their western counterparts were seldom prized or utilized fully. Clandestin is made entirely from these cooler, west-facing vineyards – Pinot Noir on Kimmeridgian while the Chardonnay comes from a single, south-facing vineyard site planted on Portlandian clay. All of these sites are farmed organically and certified by ECOCERT and are vinified according to the exacting standards for which Vouette & Sorbée has been rightly praised.