Tasting notes:

The \'V\' is for Victor, the founder of Canard-Duchêne, and, for Vintage, and perhaps for Victory, as there has not really been a vintage quite as superb as 2012...well, recently, anyway, although others may debate? This is a stunning wine with a medium yellow-gold hue and minuscule, persistent bubbles, the aromatics are packed with yellow peaches , red berries and undertones of toasted brioche. Zero-dosage, because the grapes in 2012 were perfect (and ripe), so the palate shows concentrated strawberry, raspberry and pomegranate flavours with juicy lemon-lime acidity and just a hint of grapefruit agrume framing the fruit. Complex, intense, with brittle-textured mousse and a saline-chalk note on the finish, this is a fine wine to be sipped and savoured, perhaps with grilled Maine lobster, or even on its own. [Patricia Stefanowicz MW]