Well, we are starting the New Year off on a high point! I tried this on 2 January and what a very happy surprise this was. There is a lot going on. Bright citrus with soft lemon cream and curd flavors, shortbread, granny smith apples, and a little bit of orange creamsicle. Speaking of creamy, the mousse on this bottling is excellent! The Reserve 26 finishes clean and very crisp. I imagine that pretty much any lover of champagne should fully enjoy this new release from Dumenil.

Really pretty nose with a lot of white flowers, lemon peel, lemon candy, and a kind of high toned apple/pear compote with lemon curd on the side. This really has a lot of promise, I typically like Dumenil and this is already presenting so prettily. The palate is just a touch richer than I expected, verging on cocktail Champagne, and there's nothing wrong with that it's a style of Champagne I enjoy quite a lot, along with a really soft pear and a bright crisp apple there's several types of lemon again, there's lemon flowers, lemon card, lemon peel, and a little more lemon curd. Not that it's overly citrus, it's just that the citrus is so complex and multidimensional, it's just kind of impressive. The palate finishes off with more white flowers, and this dense chalky touch right near where the finish ends, it's just really enjoyable. Definitely highly recommended.