2007 Champagne Dom Ruinart, Blanc de Blancs, Brut

Bright lemon-gold in colour with green highlights. It has a filigreed mousse and potentially classy grand cru Chardonnay aromas of citrus. There's a saline whiff of top terroirs and an impressive, structured presence on the mid-palate, bordered by a mineral frame of classic reductive style. It's still very youthful but with another year of bottle age it should develop a characterful vinosity in tune with the notes of spicy lemon confit, a panoply of fresh orchard fruits, peach and pear, and a touch of dried apricot. It's definitely a keeper. Drink with simply cooked salmon, trout, turbot, or lobster.

Drink 2020 - 2030

A lot to like here with a fresh array of mandarins, grapefruit and oranges. Super fresh, ripe and vibrant, there’s plenty of toast and minerals, too. The palate is built in a very supple, attractive and powerful style, holding concentrated, fleshy fruit throughout. Has plenty of time ahead. Drink or hold.

Disgorged in November 2017 with five grams per liter dosage, the 2007 Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs opens in the glass with a lively bouquet of citrus oil, warm bread, green apple and oyster shell, linden and beeswax. On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied, taut and chiseled, with a taut and concentrated core, racy acids and a long, chalky finish.

Drink 2021 - 2045

The 2007 Dom Ruinart is a stunning, stunning wine. It is also incredibly tight today. Bright acids and beams of minerality infuse the 2007 with remarkable energy and pure cut that carries through to the impossibly long finish. Lemon confit, marzipan, dried flowers, white pepper and a touch of reduction all develop with a bit of time in the glass.

The 2007 Dom Ruinart is the first vintage made entirely by Chef de Caves Frédéric Panaïotis. In his debut vintage, Panaïotis took Dom Ruinart, which has traditionally relied on a relatively high percentage of Chardonnay from the Montagne de Reims and tilted the balance to 75% Côtes des Blancs and 25% Montagne de Reims fruit, while also lowering the dosage significantly. As for the wine, it is breathtaking. That's the good news. Readers will have to be patient, though, as the 2007 needs time to be at its very best. Disgorged: November, 2017.

Drink 2024 - 2047