Essi Avellan: Medium-deep lemon. Full, soft, and mild red-apple nose and light, charred complexity. Smooth and rounded, harmonious on the palate. Not much character but balanced and pleasurable. 16

Simon Field: Classic, gently oxidative nose: acacia and summer meadows, if one seeks a more poetic prelude. On the palate, the fruit is quite hard, for me lacking the elegance for which this vintage will be recognized. 14

Tom Stevenson: The first blend after tasting pure blanc de blancs, and it does have an identifiable completeness. Not that the best blanc de blancs were not complete, but it was a different completeness, a completeness of pure Chardonnay. Classy, creamy finish. 17