Gosset, Celebris, Champagne, France, 2004

Pale straw green colour with a flowing, persistent small bubbled mousse. The nose is tight and contained , although with air it develops more complexity, with aromas of toasted bread, spiced lemon and quince. Although still taut, there's a real core of mineral rich, deep flavours that promise well for long aging. Up there with the 2002 but more subtle and ready sooner. Dosage 4.5%, disgorged June 2016.

A famously large harvest and one where the inverse relationship between quantity and quality did not really hold sway as this terrific Celebris so eloquently demonstrates. In 2021 this wine has enjoyed seven years of post-disgorgement ageing and appears to have benefited from the experience by shunning any apparition of leafy seniority and by maintaining a crisp, honeyed, stone fruit freshness; vinous complexity thereafter and a cerebral, slightly salty finish which is beautifully rendered.