I like Lanson champagnes, although the Black label is often nowhere near its best straight off the shelf. With no malolactic (the process of converting part of the acid component in the new wine to a softer, creamier kind) the wine can take a while to come around. This is starting to happen here, after 14 years! It's quite autumnal with lightly spiced apple sauce and honey roasted almonds under fresh, sweet icing sugar and lemon zest. The effervescence is subdued, and palate is quite vinous with that fresh malic acidity keeping it lively as it delivers those developing flavours wrapped up in the lingering sweetness of dosage. You could keep this very happily for another 10 years I think, though it's lovely at this stage.
