From Pinot Noir vines planted in Ambonnay in 1947, the Blanc de Noirs Grand Cru Brut Les Crayères is perhaps one of the finest Blanc de Noirs of the entire Champagne. Golden-yellow with orange reflections, the wine from the Lieu-dit Les Crayères shows a very clear, deep and complex bouquet of smoky (speck), spicy and herbal aromas along with some oaky and milky notes (100% barriques, 30% new, probably with partly malolactic fermentation). Full-bodied, highly elegant and intense but dry, pure and mineral on the palate, this is an enormously complex and firmly structured Champagne that still has lightness, finesse, freshness and a long, long and amazing finish. Disgorged after 64 months in November 2012, this wine was still young when I tasted it 2.5 years later. - Stephan Reinhardt

A very striking nose with immense personality and distinctively richer, red orchard fruit characters. The oak is assertive yet fits in well adding cedary, woody aromas and spicy complexity; there's a hint of pepper too. The palate delivers an immensely concentrated flavorsome impression with ripe phenolics framing nectarine, brulée custard and blue fruit flavors. Powerful, detailed and balanced. - Nick Stock