The 2008 Brut Cuvée Nicolas François was disgorged during the third quarter of 2022 with less than three grams per liter. It has a delicate, pure, clean bouquet with aromas of orchard fruits, spring flowers, honey and licorice, with hints of brioche and pastry with aeration. Medium to full-bodied, chiseled and crystalline, with racy acids and a chalky texture, the palate is tense and the finish is long, penetrating and salty. It exhibits perfect Billecart style, yet tension is present, a sign of the vintage. It is a blend of 60% Pinot Noir (sourced from Aÿ, Mareuil and Verzenay) and 40% Chardonnay from Mesnil, Chouilly and Cramant, and it matured 83% in tanks and 17% in old oak barrels.

A deeper but still youthful golden straw color, the 2008 Champagne Nicolas Francois Brut displays ripe notes of fresh madeleines, honeycomb, cherry blossoms, and a hint of grapefruit as well as a touch of hay. A blend of 60% Pinot Noir and the rest Chardonnay, with 17% aged in barrel, it’s persistent and linear on the palate, boasting some real density and the persistent mineral tension that’s emblematic of the vintage. The palate is medium to full-bodied but is driving and electric, with an energetic and focused mousse, and it’s citrus-driven throughout. There is a good level of precision in this bottle, but it’s still very nervous and is only going to improve if given time that it deserves. It’s a powerful statement for this cuvée in this vintage. The producers only did one disgorgement of this vintage in January of 2022. The dosage is 2.9 grams per liter dosage, which is lower than usual for this cuvée. (It usually hovers in the range of 5-6 grams per liter.) Drink 2026-2046.

On release this is reserved, taut and subtle, with sourdough, confit lemon and gentle blackberry Pinot fruit presented with daring dryness (just 2.9g/L residual sugar) and intensity. The texture surrounding the firm acidity is cool, clean and lightly creamy, the mousse beautifully delicate. Somewhat inscrutable and firm at the moment, this structured and lean Cuvée Nicolas François stands to gain considerable expressiveness with time under cork. Made from 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay from 83% grand cru vineyards. 17% oak-vinified with 150 months on lees, disgorged in summer 2022.

This cuvée was initially just their vintage champagne and was renamed with the name of the founder in 1964. It's usually 60% Pinot Noir from Aÿ, Mareuil and Verzenay, 40% Chardonnay from Chouilly and Cramant. The ingredients are all settled on the basis of blind tasting and the proportions are almost always 60:40. This blend is composed of 83 lots from grand cru villages and from 17 premier cru villages. 17% was vinified in small oak pièces. Chief winemaker Florent Nys thinks this 2008 lies somewhere between 2002 and 2006 in style. 3 g/l dosage. Creamy nose. Broad and mature nose, underwritten by a meaty, steely, lean palate. What a contrast at this stage between nose and palate: two different expressions! No hurry to drink this wine which definitely needs food at the moment. Still tight and embryonic. (JR)