Nicolas Feuillatte Champagne, Blanc De Blancs, Vintage 2018, Champagne, France, White – Brut, 75cl

Description TASTING NOTES A delicate bead forms a regular, pirouetting stream of bubbles. The wine is bright and delicately golden in appearance, tinged with silver-green. Elegant and graceful, this Champagne is initially underpinned on the palate by bucolic, springtime notes of fresh flowers and angelica. The complex aromas gain in intensity, revealing notes of fresh honey and plums, followed by mint and coriander on the finish. The perfectly balanced freshness ill support this delicately mineral Blanc de Blancs as it attains its true potential. The Collection Vintage 2012 Blanc de Blancs combines the purity and elegance of chardonnay with the rich character of the vintage.   Serving Temperature AS AN APERITIF: best served at 7 – 8°C. WITH FOOD: best served at 10 – 12°C.   Food recommendations Simple Pleasures Salmon tartare and sesame seeds. Minty goat’s cheese wraps. Roasted King prawns and finely-chopped coriander. “King cake” brioche.   Relaxing interlude Green asparagus risotto. Veal casserole. Vegetable linguine. Waffles.   Fine dining Hard-boiled egg, seeded bread soldiers with truffle butter. Line-caught sea bass with herbs in a Champagne sauce. AOP Tête de Moine cheese. Rocamadour cheese. 2018 in CHAMPAGNE Autumn and winter were dull, grey and spectacularly wet. With the ground utterly sodden, heavy and sticky, work in the vineyard proved particularly tough. When a freezing snap hit the region in February, temperatures of – 15.1°C were recorded in Reims at the end of the month. Spring got off to a rainy start, followed by a sudden spate of fine weather in April which kickstarted the vine into action. May was unseasonably cool, until summer arrived early, ushering in temperatures nudging 30°C and abundant sunshine. The vine flourished in these conditions, with growth 10 days ahead of the 10-year average. Summer weather set in throughout July and August and the vine continued to grow steadily. By harvest, the vines were in pristine health, with an abundance of bunches displaying sugar levels and aromatics well above the norm.