(2024) From Côte des Bar récoltants manipulants, Champagne Guilleminot, this is 100% Pinot Noir with around 30% reserve wines in the blend. It is bottled with 9g/l dosage. Nettle and fresh, crunching small berries with a subtle biscuit background. In the mouth this is super fresh. There is texture, with a foamy mousse filling the mouth, then the combination of sherbetty lemon and redcurrant fruit and acidity creates a zingy, vibrant style. The dosage adds an easy drinking hint of sweetness, for a useful all-rounder Champagne of good quality.

(2023) A more or less equal blend of the three classic Champagne grapes, aged two years, with fruit from the Marne Valley. There's a fairly deep yellow/gold hue to this. Modest bubbles rise from the glass. The nose is relatively reserved, with a little buttery biscuit and lemony fruit. In the mouth this is racy enough, though there's a sweet-fruited ripeness on the mid-palate. I find something a little bitter in the finish that detracts here, from anotherwise enjoyable wine.

(2023) This is a generous and gentle style of Blanc de Blancs, creamy on the nose, with hints of honey and acacia, a delicate beeswax filigree character. There's a sweetness on the palate, very ripe yellow plum and peach, but zippy lemon soon asserts, giving a relatively soft and crowd-pleasing style, with decent length and without doubt a harmonious balance.

(2023) New under the M&S 'Collection' label, a wine from the very good Saint Gall co-op. It is dominated by around 70% Chardonnay, with fruit from both the Côte des Blancs and the Montagne de Reims. Pouring a pale gold with good, persistent mousse, fresh baked biscuit and brioche aromas are inviting, the fruit like ripe pear and apple with light creaminess. In the mouth there is sufficient dosage to give this charm and easy appeal, but also the crisp citrus and orchard fruit has enough bite to balance very nicely. Price is £168 for six from marksandspencer.com, which works out at £28 per bottle.

(2018) I’m not usually a fan of low dosage Champagne (I find many of them severe and unbalanced), but the longer lees aging in combination with the reserve wine provide us with a fine example of the genre. Fresh and bracing, citrus, spicy, and honeyed with fine acidity.  Smooth, well balanced on the mid-palate, the lack of dosage is only felt in the slightly clipped finish, but an excellent wine in this style.  Drink upon release.

(2018) There is 35% of reserve wines in this cuvée, and a dosage of 9g/l. Quite a developed yeastiness, with lots of russet apple, nutty and juiciness, but then white flower and nettle. Very delicate, a gentle mousse, with lovely orangey acidity and fruit freshness, very crisp and tapering. Whilst dry, not austere.

(2018) Made from a 2014 base plus reserve wines from 2012 and 2013, 15% of the Chardonnay comes from Chouilly and Oiry, 85% from Mareuil-sur-Aÿ. Fermented in stainless steel with a dosage of 7 g/l.  Flowery finesse, poised stone fruits, and a long, shimmering sensation of chalk. What's not to like? Drink: 2019-2022 with a potential to acheive 91/100.

(2017) Partially vinified in oak barrels and blended from 12 hectares of organically certified and cultivated vineyards, this new cuvée is 42% Chardonnay, 36% Pinot Meunier and 21% Pinot Noir with less than 6g/l dosage. It's a fresh and lightweight style, though almost four years on the lees has added some nuttiness and brioche character. But free-flowing and elegant on the palate, it's crisp, lemony and finishes with a lick of pleasing salinity.

(2017) A grower family, bottling their own wines for and based in the Grand Cru village of Verzy, this is a blend of 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay, with 8g/l of dosage. Bottled in April 2014 I am presuming it is a 2013 base, with one third of the blend reserve wines. It was disgorged on 8th April 2016. It has a taut, fresh nose, with a little biscuity richness just showing through, some herbal touches too. Lots of fruit ripeness on the palate, the mousse quite firm, and a clean, incisive palate, pristine fruit with not too much development, and a racing fresh finish.

(2016) Note that the price is for a magnum (two bottles equivalent) of Moët & Chandon's non-vintage Brut, though the price does reflect seasonal Champagne discounting - on average it's nearer to £60-£70. Magnums always feel so good, as does this with its biscuity but bright and elegant nose, and raft of apple fruit moving through to a per, lemony finish that's also très easy to drink. A brilliant superior party stand-out.