Jacquesson Lieux-Dits 2008 (2 Bts Avize Champ Cain 2008 + 1 Btl Dizy Corne Bautray 2008) Magnum

Robert Parker (97)Disgorged in April 2018 with 2.5 grams per liter dosage, Jacquesson's 2008 Extra Brut Grand Cru Avize - Champ Caïn is showing brilliantly, soaring from the glass with a lively bouquet of waxy lemon rind, green apple, walnuts, marzipan and subtle hints of drawn butter and honey. On the palate, it's full-bodied, layered and multidimensional, with terrific concentration, mid-palate volume and structural tension, with a deeper, broader profile than the 2008 Core Bautray tasted alongside. The finish is long, saline and chalky. While Hervé Chiquet observes that Jacquesson has made considerable progress—especially in the vineyards—in the last decade that the 2008 necessarily doesn't reflect, this is nonetheless a brilliant Champagne.

Robert Parker (95)The 2008 Extra Brut Premier Cru Dizy - Corne Bautray is showing brilliantly, unwinding in the glass with a youthful bouquet of citrus oil, clear honey, preserved rhubarb and subtle hints of fresh pastry. On the palate, it's full-bodied, layered and multidimensional, with an incisive spine of acidity, considerable concentration and a long, reverberating finish. This is an unusually tensile, racy rendition of this cuvée, and Jean-Hervé Chiquet observes that, in the 2008 vintage, this typically rich wine has embraced its Chardonnay origins more wholeheartedly than usual. It's a terrific wine that will delight Champagne purists. All 5,488 bottles and 304 magnums were disgorged without dosage in April 2018. As readers may know, the Corne Bautray is a southwest-facing parcel planted in 1960 that's characterized by gravel and marl soils over a base of Campanian chalk.