A complex bouquet of iodine, mandarin, warm biscuits, dried flowers, citrus oil and anise introduces the NV Grande Cuvée 163ème Édition, a wine that's built around the 2007 vintage and is beginning to display some very attractive evolution. On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied, layered and concentrated, with a ripe but racy spine of acidity, chalky structure and a long, penetrating finish.

Pinot Noir 44%, Chardonnay 35% and Pinot Meunier 21%. Base vintage 2007. Reserve wine 40%. 7 years on lees, disgorged spring 2014. Dosage 6 g/l. Another hot year. First edition of Grande Cuvée to have the number on the label. Very pale. Pure, creamy and lightly toasty. Generous and yet so piercing in its freshness, perfectly balanced even now. Youthful, a little bit of toasty reduction. So bright, juicy and refined. Tight with long aftertaste of clementine. We also tasted a second bottle of the same wine that had been disgorged earlier but was not labelled with a number. It showed more obvious aged flavours – charred toast, 'golden', a touch of resin. Long and powerful and not likely to age as log as the numbered bottle. (JH)

ID 215031. A blend of 183 wines. Broad, putty nose with real spice and interest. Middle-aged. Rich. I will resist anthropomorphism here. (JR)