Chardonnay: 64 %
Pinot Noir: 36 %
Dosage: 3,5 g/L

Appearance:
Colour and Aspect: Lovely, bright, clear golden colour with greenish tints and amber flecks.
Sparkle: Creamy, lively, shimmering sparkle carried by a rush of tiny, bouncy, happy bubbles.
Stream of bubbles: Slender, constant and persistent.

Bouquet:
First impressions: Lots of freshness, fullness and subtlety with fragrant, delicate yet pungent notes of spring flowers such as hawthorn, privet, morning jasmine and orange blossom and also ripe summer fruit scents: vine peach, ripe pear, dried apricot and quince.
After swirling: the first scents now melt into a subtler, more varied bouquet carrying pleasantly sweet, slightly honeyed scents of hay, lemon verbena tea and Virginia tobacco and somewhere, hovering in the background are a few mineral notes (chalk) and the ephemeral, fleeting whiff the sea (iodine).
Finally, when the wine has just lost its chill, watch out for a few barely noticeable toasty notes such as toasted raisiny brioche and slivers of lightly grilled almonds, then a hint of spice, a discreet “animal” scent and tantalizing vanilla.

Taste:
First impressions: Flowing, pure and elegant. The rich, full taste seems to alternate between the lacy delicate influence of Chardonnay and the strength of the Pinot Noir. One only has to take the tiniest sip to appreciate the aromatic qualities of a champagne which needs no primping with sweetening “liqueur d’expédition”.
Body: The taste is beautifully balanced with a round, lively, complex, diverse flavour and a smooth sparkle. This is a champagne that successfully combines the delicious flavour of frangipani and melted butter, toasted almonds and poached pear, quince jelly and apricot jam, lemon verbena tea and vanilla, toasted bread and mocha coffee, fudge and amber rum.
Aftertaste: Wonderfully fresh, amazingly intense and long on the finish. The finish shows just the right amount of fruit with engaging scents of candied lemon zest and raisiny toasted brioche for a sensational finale.

Food matches:
CELEBRIS Extra-Brut Vintage 1998 manages to be at once expressive, lively and velvety whilst maintaining a certain daintiness. Some people will prefer to serve it as it is, before lunch or dinner so that the wine can be enjoyed in all its glory without any nibbles to disturb the flavours… others might prefer to drink it as a first course with cool, osciotre or sevruga caviar that melts on the tongue served with soft blinis topped with a smidgen of crème fraîche, or with finely sliced cured Spanish or Italian ham, an assortment of sashimi, sushi and teriyaki, with top-grade fish either oven-baked wrapped in foil, a la plancha or steamed. Try it with roasted farmhouse poultry, with soft or mature goat cheese or with more or less sophisticated desserts such as vanilla-roasted pineapple, gingerbread ice-cream or a chestnut bavarois with bits of candied chestnut, coffee-spiked crème anglaise, or even a tropical fruit salad with hibiscus syrup and ginger…