Vintage Champagne displays a serious side

Some is about connoisseurship, as with the vintage Clos des Goisses from Philipponnat, one of Champagne's most dramatic and long-lived wines, or the often exquisite Special Club bottlings made by about 25 producers.

If vintage dating was once significantly leveraged as a marketing conceit, there's now a growing roster of more serious and extraordinary, if still little known, vintage wine emerging from Champagne.

[...] vintage Champagnes are again achieving what they always should have: displaying a specific view of time and place.

The wider appearance of disgorgement dates has allowed some growers' nonvintage bottles to hint at their true identity, often with codes like "V10."

[...] it is helping to return the significance of vintage Champagne to its original state: a special bottle, meant to distinguish itself in a special moment.

2004 Paul Bara Bouzy Grand Cru Brut Champagne ($59, 12%): The town of Bouzy, on the Montagne de Reims, is renowned for its muscled Pinot Noir, and Chantale Bara composes her family's vintage wine with 90 percent Pinot (10 percent Chardonnay).

2004 Eric Rodez Grand Cru Brut Champagne ($68, 12%): Wines from the village of Ambonnay are known for their nuance, and for his vintage effort, Eric Rodez balances Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, with long aging in barrel, for an opulent and full-bodied effort that stops just shy of flashy.

2004 René Geoffroy Extra-Brut Champagne ($135, 12.5%): Cumieres-based Jean-Baptiste Geoffroy leads with Chardonnay (71 percent) for this bone-dry effort, and it brings a weight - along with some rich leesy presence - that balances its cracker-crisp austerity.

2008 Louis Roederer Brut Rosé Champagne ($70, 12%): Roederer's vintage efforts get relatively little attention, but they are often the most cost-effective way to access the best talents of its chef de cave, Jean-Baptiste Lecaillon.

2006 Ruelle-Pertois Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Brut Champagne ($46, 12%): The Ruelle draws from their Chardonnay holdings in the Cote des Blancs for this snappy, minerally bottle.