Delamotte & Salon with Mr. Pouchan

We just had a visit from Mr. Mathieu Pouchan of Salon and sister house Delamotte and he brought us some incredible treats. Salon and Delamotte share a facility in the village of Mesnil, the southernmost of all the Grand Crus in Champagne, located in the southern part of the Côte de Blancs. The village is planted entirely to Chardonnay, and the grapes that come from this village are the most expensive and prestigious in all of Champagne. Mesnil is prized for adding longevity and freshness to blends but is also home to some of the greatest single cru Champagnes from growers like Launois, Pierre Peters and even big houses like Krug with their Clos du Mesnil. The first one of these was also made here, the single varietal, single vintage, single village Salon, with their 1921 Vintage.

Delamotte, which is right next door to Salon, became a sister property in 1988 when the family that controls Laurent Perrier purchased both. This small negociant is the 5th oldest house in Champagne, with history going all the way back to 1760. They are renowned for making fresh, bright and long finishing Champagnes with a large amount of Grand Cru Chardonnay, notably from Mesnil.

Mr. Pouchan poured the 2007 Delamotte Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne next to an early disgorged preview bottle of the 2008 Delamotte Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne. While the 2007 was showing excellent creamy toast at 11 years old and drinking great, the 2008 is packed for the ages with extraordinary minerality, acidity and length. This is one collectors will want for their cellars and is sure to get huge write ups from the critics. If you want first crack, click through the link and get on the waiting list. I don’t have pricing yet, but expect to get product in May. For the meantime, we can all drink the 2007!

We also tasted the fabulous 2006 Salon, which was selected for longevity in this otherwise precociously ripe vintage. With no malolactic fermentation, this is the most spry, long and vivacious 2006 that I have tasted yet. It had an earthy quality that reminded me of great Ramonet Bienvenues Batard Montrachet’s that I have had, as well as the power that is always associated with those great white Burgundies. This is expensive stuff, but what a treat it was!

They will be releasing the 2007 soon, and expect the 2008 to come out sometime in 2020. Salon did not make 2009, 2010 or 2011, so we’ll have to wait for the 2012 after the 2008 is gone. We won’t see that until at least 2024!

A toast to you!

-Gary Westby