The 2016 Champagne Cristal is chalky and pristine, with a crystalline nature and notes of white peach, fresh citrus blossoms, and bright salinity. Tasted for the first time last year, it captures a precise and focused energy that’s unmatched. It boasts the energy and tension of 2002 and the precision of 2008. The wet-stone minerality of fresh chalk texture is profound, opening with medium body, showing pinpoint mousse, and sustaining a weightless energy through the long finish. This is not an obvious wine on opening, but it is by far one of my favorite wines of the year. It is going to require some patience, but it is worth stashing away and should have fantastic longevity. Drink 2027-2050.

Muddled black plum, apricot skin and boysenberry aromas frolic on the nose accented by hibiscus and violet blossom. Prominent black fruit on the palate leans against red raspberry on the finish that slightly-grippy tannins enhance. Pair with a bacon cheeseburger, lamb chop and roasted eggplant. 

Muddled yellow apple, white nectarine and crystalline aromas of green pear are dusted with white blossom. The steely palate raises orchard fruit that lingers on the dried, lemon-zested finish. Pair with croque monsieur, twice-fried French fries and tapas. 

Creamy, smoky rose petals on the nose, slowly verge into the warm scent of fresh Genoese sponge. A moment later, the nose is all pink-veined, white peach, scented, and vivid. Aromas shimmer with quiet yet persistent intensity. It therefore comes as a surprise to find the palate so utterly weightless, so delicate and yet so profound. Salinity and chalk, citrus and Genoese sponge notions move like silk chiffon. When tasted again with salty food, a whole new dimension of fruitiness opens up, intrinsic, profound, always chalky, in a dazzling display of ageless beauty. 

This is rich and layered, offering baked peach and cherry fruit alongside singed orange peel and salted Marcona almond flavors, with an underpinning of minerally chalk and brine notes. Yet the concentrated profile is set in an elegant frame of sleek acidity and a fine, satinlike mousse, waltzing across the palate and through the lasting finish. Drink now through 2039.