A Hollywood Premier: 2012 Billecart Salmon “NFB”
Last night I was lucky enough to be invited to the release party of the 2012 Billecart-Salmon "Cuvée Nicolas François Billecart" NFB Brut Champagne $199.99 96WA 95VN by the seventh generation of the Billecart family, Mathieu Roland-Billecart. The party was thrown at Larrabee Studios in North Hollywood, down an obscure alley in an unassuming part of town—but what a place! Everyone from Michael Jackson to Metallica has recorded there, and the sound-dampened walls felt like they were full of stories. It was an unforgettable evening, and the magic of the NFB has added another legend to this legendary place. It was a great chance to reconnect with friends in the wine world, and especially to spend time with the team from Billecart—Mathieu, Geoffrey, and Clément.
Mathieu explained the incredible gift of seven generations of wine producers in his family: patience. To think that this wine is just now being released at 13 years old, after 10 years on the lees and a couple more luxurious years on the cork, is just amazing. Billecart’s colleagues at the other big houses are already moving into their 2016s, 2018s and 2019s! This low-yielding, widely heralded vintage produced a special wine chez Billecart, a combination of generosity and precision that I have rarely met in a brand-new release.
This wine was 90% made in stainless steel vats, using the very low-temperature, slow technique that this house is famous for. The other 10% was done in oak barrels and vats for flesh and texture. It comes from a roll call of the best Grand Crus in Champagne: for the 60% of Pinot Noir it is sourced from Verzenay, Aÿ, and Mareuil; for the 40% of Chardonnay they selected, Chouilly, Avize and Mesnil. In the glass, it is still quite light gold with an incredibly generous bouquet of Verzenay hazelnuts and Avize Meyer lemon. Even though it has been aged for a very long time, the fine brioche in the wine is still subtle—this wine will make a delicious 40-year-old as well as being great last night! In the mouth the texture is amazing: silky with a stream of miniscule bubbles giving it bottomless energy. And of course, the finish is mesmerizing—I found it to be expansive, definitively chalky and as bright as the stars of Hollywood.
