Billecart Salmon Sous Bois Brut Champagne

A rich Champagne, with a smoky overtone of toasted brioche and grilled nut notes deftly reined in by firm, focusing acidity. The finely detailed mousse carries additional flavors of poached pear, black cherry and Mandarin orange peel, and the racy finish shows a lasting tang of salinity. Feels like white Burgundy with bubbles. Drink now through 2027 93 PointsWine Spectator, December 2020

The nose shows a broad interpretation of Billecart’s house style with aromas of cream, toffee, stone fruits, lemon pastry and lime zest. The palate has presence but a lovely zippy acidity with flavors of chalk, toast, stone fruits and light oak spice. D&M Tasting Notes

7 Grams dosage

The house that we now know as Billecart Salmon traces its origin point back to the day in 1818 that Nicolas François Billecart and Elisabeth Salmon were married.The Billecart family has lived in Mareuil-Sru-Ay since the sixteenth century. Almost as important as that union of families was the brother-in-law of Elisabeth: Louis Salmon, who was an excellent winemaker,started producing wines of distinction. Fast forward to when this bottle was produced; brothers François and Antoine Roland-Billecart run the house, the sixth generation to do so. Today Billecart Salmon is the oldest continuously family-owned and operated house in Champagne and Matthieu Roland-Billecart, who represents the seventh generation has recently begun working with his father and uncle.

We have been following the Billecart’s progress with the Sous Bois project for a number of years and feel that this is one of the more distinctive multi-vintage cuvees that they produce. We first brought this cuvee in December 2013 and have been quite happy with the evolution of this oak barrel aged cuvee since.

This Sous Bois wood label edition is half 2011 and the remaining half coming from 2010, 2009, and 2008. The varietal make up is equal parts Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, and Chardonnay: the Chardonnay is sourced from Premier and Grand Cru villages in the Cote de Blancs; the Pinot Noir comes from the Premier and Grand Cru villages in the Montagne de Reims, as well as Aÿ and Mareuil-sur-Aÿ; the Pinot Meunier is sourced from the right bank of the Marne river in the Valley of the Marne. Aged as the name implies that was fermented and aged entirely in oak barrels in a cold cellar with partial malolactic before being transferred to bottle were it was aged for 78 months on its lees. After its long and cold resting time this was finished with a very food friendly dosage of 7 grams per liter. Michael Kennel, D&M