Essi Avellan: Deep golden color. Soft, overt, red-fruit nose, spice and French bakery. Full and round, balanced with enough but non-accentuated acidity. Long, intense palate, showing maturation but not tiring. Drinking well over the next 4–5 years. 17

Michael Edwards: Green-gold, expressive color, its depth possibly due to fermentation in oak. Lovely fruit-and-oak integration on both nose and palate, strong and fine, beautifully balanced. A connoisseur’s Champagne. A 1998? 18

Tom Stevenson: More vinous; less finesse. 15.5