Today marks five years since my partner moved to England. If view of all of the wonderful times we have had together we decided to celebrate with something damned good.
Champagne Cuvée Nicolas-François 1996, Billecart-Salmon
A luxuriant nose of ripe red apple fruit with the merest hint of cold cocoa. This smells quite youthful and tight, but very elegant and refined. The palate is fiercely acidic, but has plenty of fruit to balance this. It is very ripe, with good concentration, but the balance and refinement of it is simply superb. This is very complex, stylish and intellectual. It also has a great hedonistic streak running right through it. It will age really well. The best 1996 Champagne I have had, quite brilliant.