The fresh, airy and attractively fruity 2014 vintage is proving to be a good one. It gave birth to a particularly elegant Charles Heidsieck Blanc des Millénaires, which is youthful still but comes with all the signs of a toasty extravaganza to come with time – something of a hallmark for the maker. I was also attracted to the sweetly scented charm of Philipponnat Clos des Goisses 2014, which is rather open and inviting for a young Clos des Goisses, a cuvée that’s more reputed for its longevity.

Somewhat under the radar, the late 2013 harvest produced wines that will no doubt come into the limelight in years to come. It feels almost criminal to open a bottle of the hyper-refined Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs 2013 as this wine is a marathoner, not a sprinter. Friends of coolly elegant, classically structured Champagnes should stock up on this vintage for the years to come. Another of my go-tos is Rare Champagne with its laser-sharp precision and bright luminosity. Here too, cellaring will be greatly rewarded.

Most of the 2012 vintage’s Champagnes are already long gone, but Billecart-Salmon matures its founder trilogy cuvées for a particularly long time. Both the minerally driven Louis Salmon Blanc de Blancs and the silky-delicious Elisabeth Salmon Rosé deserve to be put on your shopping list, each expression true to the year’s ideal balance between intensity and freshness.

Ruinart is also striving to grant its slowly developing Dom Ruinart Rosé more time in the cellar. The fleshy and voluminous 2009 is taking it all in, rewarding the drinker with its gorgeously complex range of lush Pinot tones. It was a solar year, producing fleshy Champagnes, yet they come with longevity, proven also by the gorgeously velvet-textured Moët & Chandon Grand Vintage Collection.

The hyped 2008 Champagne vintage needs no introduction but it is curious to follow up on how its coolly elegant, acidity-driven wines develop with further ageing. Time is certainly no issue to the increasingly complex Bollinger R.D., which currently offers layer upon layer of goodness.

The 2007 vintage is remembered for its fine Chardonnays, although the murky weather posed problems for the year’s Meuniers and Pinot Noirs. The long-aged Delamotte Blanc de Blancs Collection comes with the loveliest come-hither nose of cotton candy and lemon meringue tart. Here is a wine at perfect drinking age, boasting precision and brightness.

READ MORE: THE CHAMPAGNE REPORT 2024

And to conclude the shopping list, the hot and sunny 2006 vintage proved its age-worthiness for Dom Pérignon, with the long lees-aged P2 finally seeing daylight. And what a firework of deliciousness it is. The lees have really worked wonders here building an incredible richness and texture to the wine, yet holding on tightly to the freshness.

Gems to seek out in the more difficult vintages

The rainy 2017 harvest was full of challenges, but some Chardonnays fared well. The airy and beautifully fragrant Perrier-Jouët Belle Epoque is one of the vintage’s rare successes, being pleasurably open and accessible already today. If you wish to commemorate the vintage in your collection, this is your bottle.

The 2016 is not talked about much, probably due to the notorious challenges of the growing season. But as more and more wines reach the market, we are seeing pleasant surprises. Taittinger Vintage is always a solid performer, and the 2016 makes no exception in its elegant restraint and seamlessness. I was equally satisfied with Alfred Gratien Blanc de Blancs, where oak-derived vinosity is refreshed by a tight acid line and a saline twist.

The sun-kissed 2015 vintage is not a personal favourite due its typical vegetal aromatics deriving from the season’s hydric stress issues. Bollinger were on top of the issue, though, and vinification in oak no doubt aided the removal of any unwanted phenolics; thus the spicy-complex La Grande Année is one of the 2015 vintage’s best surprises.

The miserable 2011 vintage was not immortalised by many producers, but Krug went its individualistic way and crafted a Vintage. No doubt, the juicy and sweetly fruity Krug 2011 is the wine of the year, but it too will be an early bloomer within the range of majestically ageing Krug Vintages.