“Palmer & Co 2008: Very light nose and bone dry and racy. Quite an elegant style. Good balance and just about ready.”

“Bruno Paillard 2008: Bruno Paillard's citrus-colored 2008 Brut Assemblage Millésimé is a lean and lively, mineral palate-cleanser. It's a love-me-or-leave me cuvée comprised of 42% Chardonnay, 42% Pinot Noir and 16% Pinot Meunier, selected from ten of the best terroirs the company is cultivating. During seven years in the winery, this intense and chalky, energetically fresh and silky textured Champagne has developed a gorgeous mix of white, red and yellow fruits that are quite prominent at the moment. There are lemon and grapefruit notes, as well as marzipan, floral and chalky mineral flavors. Disgorged in 2015 with five grams of dosage and equipped with a beautiful label from the Korean artist Bang Hai Ja, the 2008 is still a bit yeasty and reductive on the nose, and austerely dry on the palate. But it is still full of drive and energy. This is Champagne for wine freaks or thirsty throats. It will gain complexity over the next decade.”

“Taittinger 2008: This wine has all the elements of greatness with the lead role given to its racy elegance. So linear and beautifully vibrant on the finely focused, long and lean palate. Plenty of stylish restraint but the wine is starting to show more toastiness alongside the cool mineral characters and citric and floral fruit profile. Still a sleeping beauty but about to wake up.””

“Vazart-Coquart: Aged only under cork. Very pale, with green notes and some real interest on the nose. Very appetising. Quite youthful with some yeasty notes. Really interesting.”