- CountryFRANCE
- Food PairingRICH FISH (SALMON AND TUNA), MILD AND SOFT CHEESE, PORK, SHELLFISH
- Grapes Variety & BlendCHARDONNAY
- Type of BeverageCHAMPAGNE
Collection 242 comprises 34% perpetual reserve, 10% oak-aged reserve wine from the 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016 vintages—this combined 44% is where the real revolution is taking place—and 56% from the 2017 vintage, especially Chardonnay, the most successful variety in that testing year, plus Pinot Noir and Meunier from the Vallée de la Marne in particular. Fine, elegantly restrained, fresh color, lemon-tinted pale gold, as if the complexity of the perpetual reserve is already beginning to work its magic in the hidden interior of the wine. The bubbles are gently a little shy to the eye at first but make a firm, dynamic impact on the tongue. The repertoire of citrus aromas wafts up in its own time, with a hint of spring snowdrops, then quite an assertive flavor of lemon confit on the palate, with an intriguing and benign amer (bitter) finish.