2019 Sugrue Pierre The Trouble with Dreams Brut

70% Storrington Priory and 30% Coldharbour Vineyard fruit. 60% Chardonnay, 40% Pinot Noir. Sustainably farmed. Fermented and aged in a combination of large barrels and stainless steel. The initial release of this wine was disgorged in early January 2024. Dosage 6 g/l. 7,500 bottles produced. The smoky, marine-scented aromas, like rain on windswept coastal cliffs, have goosebumps tingling down my neck before I've even sipped the wine. So racy it takes your breath away. White-knuckle tension, white-shell minerality, white stone fruit and long, long, sweet pithy tannins. Power in structure: salt-crusted verticality, a whisper of honey across the endless breadth. It feels like licking chiselled marble. Stern, high-cheek-bone beauty. There is so much tension in the wine that it feels like it might snap in your mouth; it feels like the crack of a whip splitting a white winter sky. I'd strongly urge laying this down for as long as you dare. If you drink it now, don't chill it as much as you might champagne and, if you can, allow it to open in the glass. I've been tasting a very large number of top-notch grower champagnes recently and by comparison the Sugrue wines, every bit as good, are underpriced (for which read  VGV ). (TC)