A year marked by frequent changes in weather, ranging from sunny conditions in June and July, a cool August and then a return to sunny weather in September. The vintage benefited from the slow-ripening conditions afforded by the late season. The supremely elegant nose has a dazzling array of scents ranging from herbs, spices, and flowers to pineapple and pear. The attack is power-driven, but a backbone of racy acidity brings vivacity and propels the wine to a weightless, airy finish. Not as dense as many Salon Champagnes, but this remains a singular and impeccably elegant vintage. Best to be patient for another 15 years.

The superb 2007 Brut Blanc de Blancs Le Mesnil wafts from the glass with a beautiful bouquet of crushed chalk, lemon oil, crisp green apple, white flowers and brioche. On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied, taut and incisive, with bright acids, a tight-knit core and a brisk mousse, concluding with a long, chalky and bone-dry finish. After the comparatively broad and fleshy 2002, 2004 and 2006 vintages, the 2007 Salon seems to mark a return to a racier, more precise style—though admittedly that's in keeping with the style of the vintage—that makes me anticipate the release of the 2008 all the more eagerly.

There are pure chalk and lemon juice notes intertwined with perfectly ripe, sunny white and yellow-fleshed fruit expressions (even hints of pineapples) on the bright, fresh, subtle but most of all highly elegant and nobly expressive nose. Altogether, that makes the 2007 Blanc de Blancs Le Mesnil Brut an outstanding Salon that already shows its class without any reservation but also without any compromises to its refined and terroir-driven style. Compared to the powerful and structured 2006 that, from my memories, showed wet chalk flavors but almost no fruit in its youth, the weightless and delicate 2007 is a coolish, elegant and smoky gentleman dressed in a white tie and silk hat—Max Raabe singing Berlin chansons from the 1920s! The performance on the palate is pure yet concentrated, fresh and linear, very elegant and perfectly balanced, but most of all, it is extremely fine and stimulating! There is a chalky-dusty texture in the aftertaste that makes this a great Salon with sublime finesse and elegance. Lovely lemon flavors are displayed on the pure, fresh and concentrated finish. The radiant 2007 Salon is one of the greatest Champagnes I have had from this vintage. 57,000 bottles produced. Tasted from lot L93 SQ 28218 U in November 2018.

Disgorged January (‘Edition’) 2019. Dosage 5 g/l. (First release was disgorged 2017.) Didier Depond: ‘this vintage was pure light’. Picked from 30 August. Transparency with a really round undertow. No longer the piercing quality of Le Mesnil but something much more accommodating. Tight bead and intricate crochet work but with lift and great freshness. (JR)