Disgorged in April 2019 with three grams per liter dosage, Paillard's 2008 Extra-Brut N.P.U. Nec Plus Ultra unwinds in the glass with notes of pear and citrus mingled with hazelnut, toasted bread, dried fruits and warm biscuits. Medium to full-bodied, taut and chiseled, it's concentrated and complex, its tightly wound mid-palate complemented by a pearly mousse and underpinned by chalky grip. While it's introverted today, this is a classic in the making that will show brilliantly with more age on cork, even if it will always remain a comparatively lean, acid-driven marathon runner of a Champagne.

50/50 Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Fruit from grands crus Le Mesnil, Bouzy, Verzenay. Fermented in small oak barrels for the first 10 months, aged on lees for 10 years followed by two years of bottle ageing after disgorgement. Disgorged April 2019. Dosage 3 g/l. Bottle 14,541 of 18,798. An extraordinarily powerful, complex nose – it sails out the glass with magnificent flair. Candied lemon and satsuma peel, smoked curds, smoky Seville orange peel. Rich and dense and burnished and coppery. Super-fine mousse. And so long-layered, tight knit, powerful and glorious that it's almost more Montrachet-like than champagne-like. Dried white currants, golden spices, sotolon and tamarind and pickled apricots. It's spicy and intense and defiantly unusual and the flavours keep soaring out from the depths of its triple-fold texture. So much vivid life in this wine! (TC)