Moët & Chandon Dom Pérignon 2013

Vivid acidity and a chalky underpinning make a crystalline frame for finely detailed notes of ripe melon, mandarin orange, toasted brioche and candied ginger in this harmonious Champagne, which is expressive and expansive on the palate, but with a sense of finesse and restraint. Long and creamy on the mineral-laced finish. Drink now through 2037.

Disgorged in October last year, the 2013 Dom Pérignon is a lovely wine, defined by the long, cool growing season. Offering up aromas of crisp stone fruit, tangerine oil, buttered toast, pear, almonds and clear honey, it's medium to full-bodied, ample and seamless, with bright acids and a pillowy, enveloping profile, concluding with a long, saline finish. Vincent Chaperon recalls that shatter at fruit set moderated yields and that a drying east wind in the weeks before harvest helped to maintain the good sanitation necessary to wait to pick at full maturity.