This is the absolute epitome of elegance, pleasure and sophistication. The balance, complexity and length here leave me awestruck. Its polished butteriness, flinty minerality and wonderfully sleek and clear lime notes are totally compelling and seductive. Is this the greatest ever?

The height of elegance! The '85 reminds me of the '79, but I wonder if this wine doesn't reach even greater peaks. What balance and indescribable finesse! Sadly it's rare these days that I become so awestruck by a wine that I go through an almost religious experience. This wonderful, lime-fruity Champagne with its polished butteriness and sparkling clarity succeeded in inducing that feeling three days in a row during a tour with Henri Krug in November, 1995. A full and perfect wine.

Fabulous aristocratic nose of minerals, lemon, toast, and grilled nuts. Big, rich and ripe, but vibrant and incredibly penetrating. Extraordinarily nuanced in the mouth: minerals, lemon peel, caraway seed, and a smoky, hazelnutty yeast autolysis character. Uncanny intensity of sweet fruit given delineation by bracing acids. Explosive finish offers great cut. An extraordinary wine, and the best Clos du Mesnil to date.

The 1985 Clos du Mesnil is a second release from the winery, in the original disgorgment from 1997. Now at age 40, the 1985 is comfortably cruising in its middle age. Apricot jam, gingerbread, spicecake, baked apple tart, orange confit and crème brulée stain the palate. A Champagne of vinous intensity and concentration, the 1985 is lights-out. This is by far the best bottle I have ever tasted. What a wine! The 1985 sits right behind the trio of iconic vintages here: 1979, 1988 and 1996.