The Paul Bara Annonciade Brut Grand Cru 2007 is a rich, gold-hued vintage Champagne from Bouzy, built on Pinot Noir fruit and the breadth that comes from a wine fermented entirely in oak barrels. Ripe rather than austere, it drinks like a Champagne made for the table.

Aromatics run to baked apple and quince, dried apricot, toasted hazelnut and a lick of vanilla spice, with the bready, patisserie character that a decade and a half on cork brings. Air draws out orange peel and a faint smokiness.

The Annonciade carries real weight across the palate, with a fine, persistent bead and a creamy mousse holding up a firm chalky line of acidity. Texture is the point here — full and gently oxidative through the middle, then tightening to a dry, faintly bitter almond finish that runs long.

Bouzy is red wine country, and this vintage Champagne can handle food that would flatten a lighter house style: dry-aged beef, roast quail or duck, a truffled mushroom tart, or aged comté. It also works after the meal alongside an apple tart or a frangipane and stone-fruit pastry.

Drinking beautifully now and best opened over the next five years or so, in a decent white wine glass rather than a flute.