Very fresh and clean with lemon-pith, fresh sourdough and white-apricot aromas. Hint of almond, too. Refreshing and creamy on the palate, with fine bubbles and a bright, sleek finish. 2021 base, with 38% reserve wines. Disgorged early 2024. 7g/L dosage.

The current release of Dom Ruinart’s non-vintage Blanc de Blancs is from the base year of 2019. It was disgorged in November of 2022, after two and a half years aging sur latte and finished with a dosage of seven grams per liter. The bouquet is bright and expressive, offering up scents of lemon, pear, a lovely base of chalky minerality, bread dough and a topnote of white lilies. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, focused and complex, with a lovely core, good soil undertow, elegant mousse and a long, well-balanced and impressively complex finish. This is drinking very nicely already, but seems likely to be even more tasty a year or two down the road, for those inclined to cellar non-vintage bubbly.

Classic and springy, with a pastoral, fresh feel and a bright pale straw hue, the NV Champagne Blanc De Blancs Brut is the calling card for the house. This release is based on the 2020 vintage, with some reserves from 2019 and 2018, all raised in stainless steel tank and lifted with 7 grams per liter dosage. Opening to floral aromas as well as a note of salted white grapefruit and a hint of soft, chalky earth, it offers a fluffy mousse and a juicy palate, with notes of candied apple in a medium-bodied frame. A sleek and refreshing Champagne with an approachable kiss of sweet, ripe fruit, it’s going to hold up over the coming years, but I would prefer to enjoy it young to preserve its freshness. (AF)