Billecart-Salmon’s Clos Saint Hilaire and More
Last week I had the chance to visit one of the most hallowed pieces of ground in the Champagne region, the great Clos Saint Hilaire in Mareuil, at the center of the Billecart-Salmon property there. This vineyard, entirely planted to an old massal selection of Pinot Noir in 1964, makes one of the most profound Blanc de Noirs in the whole appellation. Over the last few years, the Billecart family has put in a huge effort to improve the vineyard, by adding hundreds of different plants along the border of wall, creating bird houses, insect hotels, two small ponds for frogs, and even adding beehives. This new biodynamic approach will encourage ladybugs to eat aphids, birds to eat caterpillars, and, in the end, a healthier vineyard. It is an amazing project to see.
After the visit, we tasted the assembled vin clair of the Brut Réserve base 2022, the current release Billecart-Salmon "Brut Réserve" Champagne $59.99, and the one that will be coming next year. We are in good hands with this house, whose quality is always increasing while maintaining the fresh, drinkable style that we all love them for. It is interesting to note that the current batch, based on 2018 with 55% reserves, is done 4% barrel fermentation, while next year’s batch, based on 2022 is 62% reserves and 8% in oak. The 2023 base, which we won’t see until 2027, is 36% reserves and 11% done in oak. My guess is that we will see vintage releases of 2018 and 2019, but maybe not 2022 given the reserve numbers—but they aren’t saying anything about that! The commitment to wood fermentation is adding more and more depth to these already great wines… The present is great, and the future looks bright!
I was lucky enough to retaste the 2008 Billecart-Salmon "Cuvée Nicolas François Billecart" NFB Brut Champagne, which I am sure ranks among the cream of the crop of this great vintage, and found it to be even better, even more well integrated and seamless than I did when I wrote this glowing piece here for the blog. We finished off the tasting with the 2005 Billecart-Salmon "Le Clos Saint-Hilaire" Brut Blanc de Noirs Champagne, which we should be getting a small allocation of soon. They released this out of order, as we already have in stock the mind blowing 2006 Billecart-Salmon "Le Clos Saint-Hilaire" Brut Blanc de Noirs Champagne—and on sale to boot! Both of these wines are single press loads, entirely barrel fermented, and aged longer than almost anything in the appellation. The results are wines of depth, complexity, and length among the best from anywhere in the world. Today I wrote in my notebook “so packed, concentrated, and layered, it is amazing to find a finish so dry and refreshing” … These wines have it all!
A toast to you!