It is quite something to be invited to the launch of Champagne Veuve Clicquot 2008 at Clos des Lambrays, one of the finest grands crus of Burgundy's Côte de Nuits and acquired by LVMH in April 2014. It was rumoured to have paid close to €100m. The Veuve Clicquot 2008 is VC Chef de Caves Dominique Demarville’s first solo vintage. What fascinated him at Lambrays was winemaker Thierry Brouin’s consummate talent in capturing from the red iron-rich soil a wonderfully bright character in the wine- so fresh, rich yet elegant, density and delicacy in magical harmony. The same can be said for my two coups de coeur in Clicquot 2008. --- Veuve Clicquot 2008 (Magnum) --- Shimmering green-gold. Easily up several notches from the bottle. Perfect balance of freshness, ripe acidity and complex vinosity to come. Near perfect wine, patina of seasoned spice of subtle oak. --- Elegant and complex Champagne with plenty of fine mousse and flavours of toast, smoke and roasted fruit notes to balance the fresh acidity. A refined and refreshing fullbodied wine in a gastronomic style with the potential to drink well for many years. --- Tasters: Christelle Guibert, Sarah Jane Evans MW, Andy Howard MW

Dominique Demarville’s first vintage, with 5% of the wines vinified in large barriques, (the first oak seen at Veuve Clicquot in almost 50 years). 60% Pinot Noir, 35% Chardonnay, and 5% Pinot Meunier. The latest bottle tasted was suffering from tunnel vision (two years post disgorgement dull phase) and showing bruised apple tones from the oak. I have no doubts that this will resolve in the next 2-3 years and emerge from its current monolithic phase, so we’ll have to wait for the full 94 point experience.

The 2008 Veuve Clicquot Brut Millésime is the first bottling here to include five percent barrel-fermented vins clairs since the estate transitioned away from foudres for stainless steel tanks all the way back in the 1960s. The blend on the ’08 is sixty-one percent pinot noir, thirty-four percent chardonnay and five percent pinot meunier. The wine is pure, youthful and stunningly precise on the nose, offering up scents of tart apple, bread dough, complex minerality, gentle smokiness and a lovely saline element in the upper register. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, complex and very racy, with a great core, zesty acids, refined mousse and outstanding length and grip on the very long and still quite youthful finish. This is approachable today, but will be even better with five or six years in the cellar. This is Chef de Cave Dominique Demarville’s first vintage bottling since his arrival here in 2006. Impressive!

A very upright, fresh and youthful vintage for Clicquot with lemon citrus, peach and almond nougat aromas. The palate has a brisk acid punch – assertive in 2008. Crisp lemon and peach fruit flavors hold bright, and there is some oyster shell chalkiness, too, leading into a warming, grilled nut-flavored finish. Drink now. - Nick Stock

A lively mousse is the starting point for this wine. It is intensely rich, dense and still young, with a soft background to the ripe white fruits that are cut with lime. From a vintage year whose wines need to age, this follows the pattern, so wait at least until 2018.

A vivid version, like raw silk on the palate, with a powerful frame of acidity well-meshed with saline-tinged, minerally underpinnings and flavors of black currant, apricot, almond biscotti and crystallized honey. Disgorged February 2016. Drink now through 2030. — AN

Made from 61% Pinot Noir, 34% Chardonnay, and the rest Meunier, the 2008 Champagne Vintage Brut sees 8 grams per liter dosage. A generous bouquet opens in the glass with aromas of toasted brioche, buttered citrus, orange marmalade, and ripe strawberry. Full-bodied, it’s long on the palate, with a creamy texture and a fluffy mousse, as well as a nice undercurrent and spine of fresh acidity and oyster shell mineral tones. Savory and mouthwatering on the finish, this is a very nice vintage wine from the house. It has the ripe and full-bodied fruit that you come to expect with the Veuve Clicquot style but certainly has more tension. Drink 2024-2040. Disgorged in February of 2020. - Audrey Frick

The 2008 Brut Vintage is showing well, mingling aromas of toasted nuts, brioche and honeycomb with hints of yellow orchard fruit. Medium to full-bodied, it's textural and fleshy, with a rich core of fruit and fine mid-palate amplitude, underpinned by a racy spine of acidity and complemented by a pinpoint mousse. Some 5% of the vins clairs were vinified in foudre. This is one of only two vintage releases from Veuve Clicquot in the first decade of the new millennium. - William Kelley

Broad, rich and toasty, this wine brings to mind the scents of a meadow in notes of Queen Anne’s lace. Those earthy notes add weight and depth to the bright flavors of pear and lime, with firm acidity to offset the fruit ripeness. Classical in style, this is structured to age.