Delamotte, Blanc de Blancs Vintage

Delamotte, Blanc de Blancs VintageThe finest young wine I've encountered from Delamotte, the 2008 Blanc de Blancs unfurls in the glass with an expressive bouquet of freshly baked bread, lemon oil, green apple, oyster shell and mandarin. On the palate, it's medium to full bodied, textural but incisive, with superb concentration and depth at the core and a long, penetrating finish. Less autolytic in style than the 2004, some 60,000 bottles were produced, around a third less than in an

though as usual

with a spicy element providing lift

Firm reduction overshadows the fruit at present

An impressively broad-ranging nose offers up notes of mineral reduction

it is dazzling

hints of mint

I had the opportunity to taste verticals of 2 of La Rioja Altas wines

The 2001 Vina Tondonia Reserva is bridled with a lovely nose of decayed red fruit

but the 2011 is a bit less complete than I would have liked

Ink-tinged ruby

Although very concentrated it still has finesse

The 2016 Barolo San Lorenzo di Verduno is powerful