2014 Nyetimber Blanc de Blancs

Full bottle 1,617 g. 100% estate-grown grapes, 100% Chardonnay. This smells like an autumn apple festival! Gloriously appley. And such purity! A wine that is not relying on lees ageing to give it depth or flavour or richness – it's all there in this incredible fruit. It fills the mouth, a trumpet concerto of silver and gold notes, while the acidity feels like the spine-tingling vibrations of harp strings, thrumming up and down – I can feel this wine like a thread-fine electric current under my skin and through my bones. Translucent white spring florals dancing weightlessly through prismic citrus; lime, yuzu, grapefruit peel. Then, right at the end, a lick of cold salted butter, a dab of cumin and coriander spice. Outstanding. (TC)

The 2014 Blanc de Blancs was bottled in March 2015 and disgorged in March 2020 and is due to hit the market in 2021. There is a touch more red fruit here, hints of white strawberries joining the defined honeysuckle and yellow plum scents. The palate is well balanced with a fine bead of acidity, taut and fresh, and quite linear, as a Blanc de Blancs should be, with a little more salinity coming through on the pear and greengage finish compared to the 2013.