The Paul Bara Special Club 2016 is a grand cru vintage Champagne from Bouzy, in the Montagne de Reims, built on Pinot Noir with a small proportion of Chardonnay. Five years on lees have given it a broad, savoury shape without dulling the freshness that makes Bouzy fruit worth waiting for.

Aromas run to baked apple, white peach and dried flowers, with brioche, toasted hazelnut and a touch of spice underneath. The palate is generous and quietly powerful, red-apple and stone fruit flavours carrying a chalky, almost salty undertow.

Bouzy Pinot Noir gives the Special Club 2016 its width through the middle, while the Chardonnay portion keeps the line straight and the finish clean. The mousse is fine and persistent rather than foamy, the texture creamy, and the finish long, dry and mineral, with citrus pith lingering after the fruit has gone.

Pour it with roast chicken and pan juices, seared scallops, a plate of jamón, or aged comté and gruyère. It has enough presence for duck breast or even a rare steak, which is not something you can say of most Champagne.

Drinking beautifully now, though a further five to eight years in a cool cellar will bring more of the nutty, autolytic character forward and soften the acid line further.