The first vintage of chef de cave Dominique Petit, the 1999 Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill is an especially rich, generous rendition of this bottling. Revealing aromas of buttered toast, sweet stone fruits, orange confit, iodine and pastry cream, it's full-bodied, fleshy and gourmand, with a broad attack and a layered core of sweet fruit, concluding with a long, saline finish. This, too, is drinking at its peak today, and once again there's no reason to delay gratification.

The 1999 Brut Cuvee Sir Winston Churchill, from magnum, is wonderfully rich and expansive, proving yet again just how well suited the big bottle is to Champagne. Smoke, peaches, mint and flowers are just some of the nuances that flow from this textured kaleidoscopic Champagne. The wine continues to gain focus and breadth through to the enticing, brilliant finish. Disgorged July, 2009. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2030. Importer: Frederick Wildman and Sons Ltd, New York, NY; tel. (212) 355-0700

The 1999 Brut Cuvee Sir Winston Churchill, from magnum, is wonderfully rich and expansive, proving yet again just how well suited the big bottle is to Champagne. Smoke, peaches, mint and flowers are just some of the nuances that flow from this textured kaleidoscopic Champagne. The wine continues to gain focus and breadth through to the enticing, brilliant finish. Disgorged July, 2009. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2030.

Tasted at the Pol Roger dinner at The Ledbury. Pale Tasted from magnum, the nose is consistent with the bottle tasted earlier this year, the Chardonnay  really driving the bouquet forward, although there is a curious tincture of aniseed that lends another dimension and later a hint of nougat. The palate has very fine weight, perhaps more so than in bottle and yet again, it seems to take its foot off of the accelerator towards the finish that is relatively simple compared to the ’98. Drink now-2025+ Tasted March 2010.

Full, rich, pure and still full of powerful baked citrus fruit. Toast and petrichor on the finish. This is champagne at its fullest, really peacocking. Emphatically Pinot Noir with all that strength and structure. Utterly delicious and elemental. (RH)