2008 Veuve Clicquot Brut, Reims

94 points Tyson Stelzer

61% Pinot Noir, mostly from Ambonnay, Bouzy, Ay, Tauxieres-Mutry, Avenay-Val-d'Or, Verzy, Verzenay and Ludes; 34% Chardonnay from Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Oger and Vertus; 5% Pinot Meunier, mostly from Ludes and Dizy; 5% fermented and aged in large oak foudres for the firsts time; 8g/L dosage

Demarville lists 2008 in top 10 vintages for Clicquot, ahead of 1996, a season of 'wonderful depth, minarality and a fine and delicate spirit'.

The wine he has dwarn from this year is as great as any Clicquot vintage I have tasted. Its coiled tention and tightly clenched acidity have only just begun to unwind to reveal the expansive personality ot the pinot noir.

Lemon top notes have subdued, making way for notes of blood orange rind, black cherries, plums and the beginnings of naugat and brioche. A glimpse of oak lends just a subtle, well-integrated toasty note, but the real highlight is its classic 2008 acid drive and beautifully fine, expansive, salty chalk minaral landscape.

It concludes very long, spicy and magnificient. I wrote prior to its release two years agp that the secret to this vintage is to keep your hands off it foras  many decades as you possible can, as it possesses the euphoric freshness to outlive even the most disciplined willpower. Towards the end of its release cycle, this is more true than ever, having shed its beach-fresh, euphoric definition, without yet having built its secondary allure. Patience.