A very elegant and silky vintage Champagne with a seamless harmony of candied citrus fruit, sushi ginger and dried cherry character with racy acidity and delicate minerality at the long, straight and refined finish. You don’t even think about how much or little dosage this has. Drink or hold. Stuart Pigott. August 2023.

The 2016 Brut Vintage reveals a complex, gourmand bouquet with aromas of ripe orchard fruits, nectarine, pastry, nuts, sweet spices and ripe white fruits, signs of a warm vintage. Full-bodied, broad and vinous with a fleshy core of fruit, it’s rich and elegant with a penetrating, saline finish. It will drink at its peak in five to 10 years.

Toasty, smoky aroma with baked apple and lemon zest, creamy texture, umami mushroom flavour on the length. Classically styled, as typical and traditional as ever. Much richer and bolder than their non-vintage, and absolutely ready to drink now. It could age, but I'm not sure you need it to. (RH)

60% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay. Blend of 20 grands crus and premiers crus from a later-than-usual vintage, picked from 10 September until early October. Average potential alcohol was 9.8% and average acidity was 7.5 g/l in sulphuric. Full malo. Dosage 7 g/l. Very tight, dense nose with some honey and orange notes on the palate. Already very drinkable with the acidity not especially noticeable, although presumably it will gain in aromatic complexity with bottle age. I found it less than enthralling when I first tasted it and gave it a score of 16.5 but when I was served a glass blind from my re-stoppered bottle a few days later, I was impressed. So is the lesson, don't rush your pleasures? (JR)