Keeping the fingerprint

This week was full of tastings, and of preparations for next week's trip. The tastings this week were marked by contrasts. I tasted producers who made fantastic wines in challenging vintages. I also tasted wines that, in my opinion, should not have been made. I know that is a strong view. But when a producer loses their own style, their own fingerprint, is it worth it? Yes, many markets want riper, richer styles than we do up here in the north. But when producers say they prefer the cooler style themselves, they also have to listen to their own words. And they have to find the restraint to hold back. Tuesday was the longest day: twenty-two Champagnes from thirteen producers, from Krug and Dom Pérignon to growers like Georges Laval and Ulysse Collin.

I found clean tones of blood orange, pink grapefruit and candied orange peel. Alongside these, there are oxidised red apple skin and pure wild strawberry. Fine notes of maturity run through it. A baby that will only get better.

Fine notes of wild strawberry and rose petals meet the baked character I expect from Dom Pérignon Rosé. There is plenty of minerality here too, leaning towards the saline.

Clear notes of blood orange and grapefruit lead into yellow and red raspberries, with fine red apples. A distinct mineral streak runs through the finish.