1995 Charles Heidsieck Blanc des Millenaires

Drunk from a bottle that was disgorged in 2016, the 1995 Blanc des Millenaires continues to show very well, wafting from the glass with a complex bouquet of waxy citrus rind, dried pear, walnut oil, warm bread and fresh pastry. On the palate, it's full-bodied, enveloping and chalky, with a rich and muscular core, lively acids and a long, precise finish. Impeccably balanced, this is a cuvée I have drunk on many occasions and which used to be well-represented in my own cellar, but this is as good a bottle as I have ever encountered. In the plenitude of full-maturity, now is a great time to pop corks.

Disgorged 2015. Daniel Thibault was so confident of the quality and longevity of this wine that he made 10 times the amount his boss suggested (on the basis that presidents of champagne companies change much more frequently than chefs de cave). Very little bottle variation apparently. Some of the vast lots are disgorged every year in summer. Still greenish gold. Still lots of freshness on the nose. Noble and magnificent. Savoury and yet lacy. Full phenolic ripeness (a bit more than 2004, which is currently embargoed). Dances on the palate. Lovely, very lightly toasty, mature Chardonnay flavours but definitely tight-knit champagne not burgundy! So clean. (JR)

Smells younger and fresher than the Lanson Noble Cuvée 2000 with a toasty reductive charry note. Intense and cedary on the palate, dry tasting, with the dosage to round it out, deep and long with a honeyed finish. Very crisp overall. Still a way to go. (JH)