The Annual Champagne Summit Dinner Sparkles with Billecart's Brightest

Earlier this week, the K&L Champagne team kicked off our annual staff summit with a dinner hosted by Billecart-Salmon. It has become a welcome tradition to start off our yearly survey of all the grande marque producers with a sushi dinner at my place featuring the wines of this great house. Christian Esser, who just returned from a visit to Billecart, and Eric Lecours presented the wines and treated Scott Beckerley, Michael Benoit, Philip Roufail, Will Langhi, Cinnamon and me to a great spread from Kanpai sushi in Palo Alto.

A Special Party for a Special Wine: 2015 Cristal

This past Sunday, Cinnamon and I were invited to the pre-release party of the 2015 Louis Roederer "Cristal" Brut Champagne by Jean-Baptiste-Lecaillon, the chef de cave of Champagne Louis Roederer. He was there with Johann Merle, his vineyard manager, whom we were lucky enough to sit with, and the rest of his team. The wine is available for pre-sale now, but won’t arrive until the week of the 19th.

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.

2010 Billecart-Salmon Rosé: The Champagne of 2023

It is only rarely in my career that I have encountered a Champagne as entrancing as the just-released 2010 Billecart-Salmon Rosé.

Twelve Memorable Champagnes of 2022

I can’t believe that next month will mark my 23rd year of curating Champagne here at K&L. It seems like the year 2000 was only yesterday! Twenty twenty-two was a blessed year for me for great bottles, and I had the opportunity to taste incredible stuff in Champagne, in Scotland, but also at home. I could not be more grateful for the loyalty of our Champagne-loving customers here at K&L that have given me the opportunity to do this dream job. I hope that you enjoy a look at 12 of my memorable bottles from 2022, which are presented in the chronological order of when I drank them.

Derot-Delugny: The Best Deal in 2012 Vintage Champagne

This past May, I traveled to the far west of Champagne, to the lovely, tiny village of Crouttes-sur-Marne, to visit brother-and-sister team Laurent and Claire at Champagne Derot-Delugny. They are one of the oldest grower producers in the western Marne Valley, having sold Champagne in bottle since 1929. This long tradition has given them the gift of patience and the ability to sell vintage Champagne at 10 years old, the 2012 that is the main subject of this article.

150 Years of Champagne Launois!

This June, I traveled back to Champagne to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Champagne Launois. It was an honor to be invited. The party was unforgettable, hosted by no less than four generations of the family at their beautiful château just outside of Mesnil. There we spent the afternoon tasting, eating, and drinking… a six hour Champenois lunch!

A Great 2008 from Billecart

At the end of May, I was lucky enough to be hosted at Champagne Billecart-Salmon in Mareuil by none other than cellarmaster Florent Nys. We have known each other for many years, but I hadn’t had the chance to sit down with him since before the pandemic. He invited me into the new reception area at Billecart, and poured quite the tasting.

2008 Krug: Monumental Champagne

This Friday night, Cinnamon and I shared a bottle of the greatest young vintage I have ever tasted from the legendary house of Krug, their monumental 2008. Expectations were high for this bottle, given that it was the most anticipated release in my 22 years of doing the Champagne buying at K&L. Those expectations were exceeded. This wine will be a legend like 1945 Mouton, 1978 Hermitage La Chapelle, or 1921 Salon. They nailed it.

Vintage Billecart and Sushi Night at the Westbys

Last night, Cinnamon and I treated ourselves to some sushi from the recently reopened Kanpai in Palo Alto and paired it with the magnificent 2007 Billecart-Salmon "Cuvée Louis" Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne. I had opened it to make a little video presenting the wine (see below), and we enjoyed the rest paired with the great variety that a sushi dinner has to offer. This over-200-year-old house continues to push and strive for ever more quality, and this all-Chardonnay tête-de-cuvée is proof of that.

2013 Cristal: Silky Elegance and Vibrant Refreshment

Of all the Grand Marque producers of Champagne, none are moving as fast at improving quality as Champagne Louis Roederer. This upward trajectory is even more impressive because of the high level that they have always maintained. Last week, tasting the newly released 2013 Louis Roederer “Cristal” Brut Champagne, I realized that Jean-Baptiste Lecaillon has once more found room to go upwards, even in a vintage less famous than the 2012 that proceeded it.

Henriot's Under-the-Radar Tête de Cuvée Over-Delivers

The Henriot Cuvée Hemera is not a household name when it comes to tête de cuvée Champagne, but this is a wine that deserves to be much better known by Champagne lovers than it is. Unlike the most famous tête de cuvée offerings, this is a small-production Champagne with an extraordinarily strict selection and a very, very long ageing time on the lees. Some producers even offer “late disgorged” Champagne that is younger than the current release of the Hemera.

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