The 2007 Celebris Extra Brut is the latest rendition of this cuvée, which cellar master Odilon de Varine describes as "not a vintage Gosset but a Gosset vintage"—meaning that it's produced only in years adapted to the house's powerful but austere style. Unwinding in the glass with aromas of lemon oil, marzipan, warm biscuits and wet stones, it's full-bodied, with a deep and concentrated core of ripe but racy fruit, a tangy spine of acidity and an elegant pinpoint mouse, displaying terrific purity and precision.

This was a wonderful tasting with Gosset's cellar master Odilon de Varine, who presides over a remarkably consistent range of powerful but elegantly austere Champagnes that emphasize, as he puts it, the region's "mineral side." No doubt the systematic prevention of malolactic fermentation plays an important role in the house's tightly wound, incisive style. The philosophy here is that Champagne acquires complexity from evolution in bottle on the lees, not in barrel or tank, nor from the addition of elevated percentages of reserve wines. The release date of Gosset's cuvées is determined by tasting—which is why both the 2008 and 2010 Grand Millésime will be preceded by the release of the 2012 rendition.