A wine can be like a person you first set eyes on. Instant attraction. So it was last Friday, a friend brought this to dinner (which he was hosting). I got somewhat lost getting to the venue but was very relived the other guest – Basile Guibert of Mas de Daumas Gassac – had only arrived a while before me. Having returned from a 3-week work trip to Spain, Italy, and France, I was very jet-lagged. Soon after sitting down, a glass of this chardonnay was put in front of me. My senses were reawakened immediately! What an explosion of citrus – pomelo, limes, lemon, and grapefruit! I felt a transfusion of bubbles like a second life coursing through my veins. The burst of fruit, freshness, vitality and energy was like a spinning top. Except it was not slowing down nor tiring. It just kept going and going. Aged five years on lees before disgorgement, the dosage of this blanc de blancs is 7 g/l. That’s just technical information. The wine itself is simply delicious. Surrender is inevitable. Joseph Perrier has produced a winner!