36 bottles only. Disg. Oct. 2019. Made only in exceptional years, Millésime spends a staggering 96 months on lees―a number almost never seen in Champagne. Jack and Lois Doeven’s chilly Drumborg vineyard provides the fruit for this Blanc de Blancs, and the site’s inherent energy is heightened in this particularly cool year. The Lethbridge approach reigns supreme when it comes to the cellar: wild barrel ferments, full malolactic conversion, exposure to oxygen and no sulphur. “We’re making wine first and bubbles later,” explains Ray. “The base wine must be complex; the complexity is what frames the journey.” This is a floral, savoury beauty, rich with elegance, precision and a strikingly detailed close.