The bouquet spirals through a light-filled, floral softness to the gritty minerality that epitomises Dom Perignon, evocative of candied fruit, plant life and exquisite camphor leaf freshness, and finally plunges into darkness, spices and licorice root. On the palate, the wine still has a physical presence. It is striking and demading, tactile and vibrant rather than aromatic. It is built on rhythm and rupture more than harmony. After an initial cloud of stofness, we hit a mineralised verticality that gradually opens out to suggest a bitter, iodised and saline nobility.