This fresh and balanced Champagne is lightly toasty, with snappy acidity and a lively, creamy mousse carrying flavors of white cherry, pickled ginger and Marcona almond. Offers saline-laced minerality. Drink now through 2021.

(roughly 50% pinot noir, 30% chardonnay and 20% pinot meunier; Lot 14009913): Light gold. Musky orchard fruits and dried fig on the mineral-accented nose. Fleshy and broad on the palate, offering smoky pear and nectarine flavors and a hint of honey. Finishes on a gently spicy note, with very good cling and a touch of bitter lemon pith. Things have definitely begun to turn around for this bottling, which had been lagging behind the winery's vintage offerings for some time.

This best-selling Champagne is getting slightly drier. This bottling also has touches of attractive toastiness that suggests some bottle age. Final acidity and white fruits keep the freshness.

The latest rendition of the NV Brut Yellow Label offers up aromas of toasty, honeyed yellow orchard fruit and white flowers, followed by a medium-bodied, open-knit palate with tangy acids, a youthfully frothy mousse and pure if somewhat brief finish. This isn't as powerful as the 2008 Grande Dame, but it's livelier; indeed, based on these examples, there isn't much qualitative gap between the two. Given the quantity produced, this is a creditable effort.