Essi Avellan: Medium-deep lemon. Soft fudge-and-apple nose. Underlying biscuity and leesy complexity, with sweet vanilla notes and oaky tones. Mild oxidative note. Positively crisp palate, fluffy mousse and mouth-filling, round structure. 15.5

Andrew Jefford: Lemon-gold; gentle mousse. Soft, lemony, piled knickerbocker-high with whipped cream: attractive and well away from the faintly dour aromatic norm of the dryer end of the tasting. By contrast, there’s scant evidence of the aromatic contours on the palate; this is a quite a steely, lunging, sappy Champagne, with a stony finish. An attractive combination; clever cellar work from what is presumably a cooler site. A little new oak snuck in here? It’s just a little bit too taut and green at the very end for me for a really high score, but well worth buying and trying. 16.5

Tom Stevenson: Oaky, but beautifully oaky. The lemony oak is not seamless but does melt into the fruit, which is deliciously spicy, and remains there all the way through its long, tapering finish. I’m not a great lover of oak in Champagne, but I have to take my hat off to this cuvée, which has elegance, class, and finesse. Gorgeous! 19