The 2015 La Grande Dame is bright and nicely focused. There’s good energy driving a core of Pinot Noir fruit. Pear, white flowers, mint, white pepper and lime are nicely delineated. The 2015 is not the most complex Grande Dame I have ever tasted, but it offers plenty of immediacy with no vegetal notes or hard contours that have proven so challenging elsewhere. This is an expertly made Champagne by any measure. Dosage is 6 grams per liter. Disgorged: October, 2021. Drink 2023-2030. Published November 2023.

2015 shows off the sunny fruits of the year with more grip and intensity than the 2008 and 2012. Fleshy orange, red pear, dried pineapple and chewy grapefruit peel build on a firmly structured frame, although there is a suppleness of nougat and acacia honey lurking in the middle that promises to emerge with a little patience. The bustling energy of the vintage is sitting proud for now, bitter almond and fruit skin building to an energising close despite the moderate acidity. An edition that will perform especially well at the table. Tom Hewson