Essi Avellan: Medium-deep lemon with peachy tinge. Nose has depth: It is fruity, robust, and powerful. Bright Pinot fruit, a potpourri of spices, and fine toasty and charred notes alongside super-ripe fruit that is almost botrytized. Weighty, ample palate. Mouthfilling and dense but has enough freshness and life to keep it from being heavy. Still young, style-wise flirting with oxidation but staying on the safe side. Long and intense, with perfected dosage. This will take time in its firmness and power. 19

Andrew Jefford: Pale gold; steady mousse. Some bready warmth; some fresh apple fruit; just a trace of spring onion/scallion. On the palate, this is a driving, firm-contoured Champagne of purity, though not much detailed finesse. It does the job in a rather charmless manner, but has character. 13.5

Tom Stevenson: Clean, rich, yet lightly structured, this is a classic Champagne, whether single-vineyard or not. It is clean, even though it is 2005 (a rot-fest in Champagne). 16