2006 Pierre Peters Blanc de Blancs Cuvee Les Chetillons

The 2006 Brut Cuvée Spéciale Les Chétillons wraps around the palate and never lets up. Apricot, peaches, wild flowers, butter and spices all flesh out in a dramatic, structured Champagne endowed with tons of pure energy and volume. Stylistically the 2006 brings together the opulence of the 2002 with the minerality and cut of 2004, a great combination in my book. This bottle was disgorged in March 2013. Dosage was 4.7 grams/liter.

(made from a single plot in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger; aged for just over six years on its lees and disgorged in March, 2013): Pale gold. A heady, exotically perfumed bouquet evokes poached pear, musky flowers, vanilla bean (but no oak here), toasty lees and anise. Broad, palate-staining orchard and pit fruit flavors are braced by a zesty orange pith quality, picking up gingery spice and honeysuckle elements with aeration. Finishes sappy, spicy and extremely long, with suave florality and a touch of candied citrus zest.

Another brilliant wine, the 2006 Blanc de Blancs Les Chetillons is shaping up to be a stunner. Today it seems to have the density and power of the 2002 but in a more linear style that brings to mind some of the energy of the 2004. Not bad, to say the least. Over time, hints of almonds and white flowers begin to emerge, but the 2006 remains a powerful Champagne built on explosive structure. Readers who can be patient will be rewarded with a stunning Champagne.