2004 de luxe champagnes

Both Julia and I have been lucky enough to have a chance to survey some pretty smart 2004 champagnes recently, Julia at a retrospective sighted tasting of 16 of the best at 10 years old, courtesy of fine-wine traders Bordeaux Index, and me at a small, fun, blind tasting of four of them (three of which had also been tasted by Julia a few days before).

There is no doubt that 2004 is a successful vintage for champagne. It lacks perhaps the richness of the best 2002s but there are some very exciting wines that are just starting to provide great...