Where has all the vintage Champagne gone?

A fine example of just how elevated vintage-level releases can become with time. Louis Roederer's Late Release 1996 in magnum was disgorged at the same time as the main release (2004), yet aged in the Roederer cellars on cork until its release in 2022. The vintage's stunning energy and acidic drive are unusually well integrated here. Explosive gunflint-reduction aromas meet maturing complexity of charred lemon, toffee apple and sourdough bread. Piercing, driving and silky, it's a hugely engaging wine that makes the most of the slow ageing magnum format. Like most Roederer vintages currently released, this is exclusively Pinot Noir from Verzy and Chardonnay from Chouilly.

Tasted from magnum. As fine an argument for buying magnums of vintage Champagne as one could make, Laurent Perrier's brilliant 2008 is still going strong 17 years from the harvest. It offers serene, crisp white currant, pear and candied lemon fruit over a wonderfully seductive, reductive and sleek bedding of gunflint, toasted hazelnut, sourdough, croissant and the richness of caramel and dried stone fruits. The mousse has settled into satin smoothness, even if the wine itself is still showing plenty of 2008's driving acidity. It's now hitting its peak in magnum, while 75cl bottles are already mature.

The cool 2013 vintage has come around beautifully for the 1522, Philipponnat's vintage cuvée focused on Pinot Noir from the house's historical vineyards in Aÿ. A meeting point of richness and restraint, it leaps from the glass with aromas of dried apple, maple and caramelised pineapple. The palate is driving with sweet lemon acidity and it is developing some liquorice, dried apricot and butter complexity with age. It has a medium build, and with its softening, cushioned mousse, it's entering a rewarding drinking window.

Louis Roederer's 2016 vintage features plenty of Pinot Noir from the northern slopes of the Montagne de Reims, which shows some of the vintage's typical mixture of juicy up-front fruit and freshness. It still feels young – this needs more time than some current vintage releases – but it is tightly packed with ripe apricot, fragrant blackberry and strawberry fruit and a tapered, elongated finish brightened with zesty Chouilly Chardonnay. There's a touch of nutty savour building, too, with a third of the wine fermented in oak. This will come into its own with another three to five years in the cellar.

In a year when some vintage Champagnes are almost too easy-going, Philipponnat has captured some serious complexity and drive in this fine 1522 in one of the top releases of the vintage so far. Opening with bright, spicy ginger and pepper top notes, the ripe Pinot from Aÿ unfolds with generous raspberry and strawberry fragrance and dried pear maturity. The Chardonnay from Oger pulls the wine forward with salted lemon intensity. It's a fulsome, relatively structured 2018 displaying some ageworthiness; two or three years in bottle will yield even more aromatic generosity.

The small house of Veuve Fourny in Vertus crafts a large range of wines focused on the Chardonnay of the southern Côte des Blancs, with this cuvée the main vintage-level offering. It is consistently an excellent purchase. The current 2016 release, focused on the stricter, chalkier terroirs of Vertus, comes with immediately engaging charred pineapple, nougat and lemon marmalade aromas, beautifully measured and clean while driven by salty bread savour and elongating acidity. It's a seriously fine vintage blanc de blancs to compete with many of the top maison examples.

Palmer's Grands Terroirs releases represent its top vintages, blending Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from the northern and eastern Montagne de Reims. This has proven itself a very fine 2015 over the last three years since release, opening up post disgorgement with buttery toast, roasted apricots and pears, dried limes and orange blossom. The ripeness and heat of the year is felt in the concentrated, food-friendly structure, but it still retains plenty of length and refreshment value, without any of the vegetal or tough flavours that sometimes pop up in this extremely hot, dry year.

Pol Roger has three vintage-level wines, and the Blanc de Blancs 2016 is on fine form, carrying some of the house's typical creamy generosity. This is a Blanc de Blancs that is never on the tense or piercing end of the spectrum for the style. In the ripe 2016 vintage it's a delight, not heavy at all, and full of inviting aromas of toasted baguette, apricot, demerara sugar and tarte tatin. The texture is satin-smooth with a meringue-soft mousse and a twist of bitter orange, rather than driving acidity, to cut the close. This will open out beautifully in the short term. All the Chardonnay is from grand cru vineyards in the Côte des Blancs.

Taittinger's vintage cuvée has been on a fine run of form, showcasing plenty of approachability beneath glossy, complex and decadent aromatics. Bittersweet roasted lemon, apple tart and pastry cream meet lots of ripe, juicy orange citrus typical of the year, with the complexity of toasted nut and nutmeg emerging. Not for those that like their Champagnes ultra-dry, but the 9g/L dosage will continue to integrate over many years to come.

Gosset's 2016 vintage is a pretty, rather delicate take on the year thanks to its Chardonnay dominance (which is slightly unusual for the house), with Russet apple, apricot, cherry and blossom flavours emerging over toasted nut, oyster shell and sourdough complexity. It's restrained rather than overly fruity, with a compact, tapered palate. Ready to drink now, this will hold well for five years.

Palmer's emblematic Blanc de Blancs has always been a single vintage wine, but now it is once again (helpfully) labelled as one after a period of being labelled without a vintage. The sunny 2018 has yielded a beautifully open, effusive Chardonnay, with grapes coming mostly from the Montagne de Reims, although there's some admirable restraint and focus for what can be a very open-knit vintage. It is full of toasted baguette, lemon marmalade, white peach and orchard blossom aromas. The palate is sweet-fruited yet far from simplistic, with the lees-ageing of almost six years bringing delicious toasted-nut savour and a creamy texture.

The Henriot Brut vintage always represents fine value, and the latest release – with more than eight years ageing on lees in the house's cellars – arrives from the sunny, broad 2015 vintage. It's a relatively restrained, discrete and medium-bodied take on the vintage, with flavours of green pear, apricot and honey, a light herbal streak and an integrated, ripe fruit skin bitterness adding a touch of grip. Like many 2015s this will do as well at the table as for an aperitif.

Grand Vintage 2016 sums up the year's strong suits very neatly – beautiful ripeness without heaviness, compact build and fine ageworthiness. It's a characteristically clean-cut, snappy vintage from Moët, with aromas of fresh baguette, satsuma, sweet red apple and strawberry, all framed with the toasty sourdough aromas typical of the house. There's some concentration and vinosity lurking here, even with the house's delicate style and pinpoint, meringue-soft mousse. This seems destined to be one of the top Moët vintages of late.

Charles Heidsieck's 2018 is an unusual assemblage which successfully finds some focus and energy in this generous, sometimes slightly diffuse ripe vintage. Alongside plenty of juicy stone fruit Pinot Noir and sweet, sunny tangerine there's an appealing snap of bittersweet grapefruit Chardonnay, a large part of which unusually hails from sandy Trigny just north of Reims. The stylish toasty nougat richness, set against the clean-cut precision and easy approachability of the house, is certainly on show, and both 2018s present fine mid-term drinking

The warmth of 2018 is reflected in the sweet orange citrus, fragrant raspberry and tropical juiciness promised on the nose of Piper-Heidsieck's fine 2018, already complex with some coffee macaroon, fresh dough and toasted nuts and bright with a jasmine-like aromatic lift. 2018 is never a high-acid vintage, but this release holds itself in tightly with reductive freshness. It’s snappy and surprisingly long with subtle candied grapefruit peel grip and delivers with a more elegant, tapered shape than many wines of the year. Ready to enjoy, although this is a 2018 with enough latent energy to age over the short term.