Some very fine apple and baked pear notes here with grapefruit and fine pithy lemon plus chalky almond paste, gentle spice and blue fruits. The palate has a wealth of powerful fruit on offer; biscuity, lemon and grapefruit citrus, grilled cashews and a long acid drive through the finish supporting concentrated fruit. Best in another two to three years.

The Chiquets vinify all of their parcels separately, blending this top selection from their vineyards in Hautvillers, Dizy and Mareuil sur Aÿ. It emphasizes the freshness of chardonnay (70 percent) blended with pinot noir (30 percent), presenting the exceptional quality of the fruit unadorned. This has none of the ornate detail of an ambitious tête de cuvée from a grand marque. Instead, it is tight, firm, leesy and tense, a narrow focus on citrus blossoms with the zippy energy of the 2007 vintage.