Billecart-Salmon Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs Cuvee Louis Salmon 2012 1.5Ltr

#17 in Top 100 Wines of France, 2024. Incredible aromas of brioche, bread dough and pie crust with superb, electrifying fruit, from peaches to fresh apples. It’s driven, mouthwatering and with fantastic structure, yet it’s so balanced and creamy. Very fine and silky bubbles. It’s better and better as it warms slightly in the glass. 3.9g/L dosage. Drink or hold.

The 2012 Brut Blancs de Blancs Louis Salmon is a gorgeous wine for drinking now, as it is quite a bit softer than the 2013 that precedes it in this tasting. Baked apple tart, spice, dried herbs and a kiss of French oak caress the palate. Rich and hedonistic, the 2012 has so much to offer. A slight hint of reduction lingers. The blend is Le Mesnil, Chouilly, Cramant and Oiry.

Originating from a mid-September harvest following a mildew-pressured season that resulted in comparatively low yields, the 2012 Blanc de Blancs Louis Salmon has produced a flamboyant wine that blossoms in the glass with aromas of lemon confit, nashi pear, quince and peach mingled with almond paste and freshly baked bread. On the palate, it is medium- to full-bodied, concentrated and profound, with ripe yet racy acidity and a layered core of fruit. Its textural attack segues into a resonant, pungently chalky mid-palate, concluding with a long, saline finish tinged with grapefruit. It is slightly more powerful than the 2013 rendition, exhibiting a subtle phenolic nuance; yet, it likewise reflects Billecart’s contemporary stylistic direction. Disgorged in January 2023 with a dosage of 3.9 grams per liter, only a quarter of the base wines were matured in barrel, while approximately 90% underwent malolactic fermentation. The blend is anchored in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, complemented by wines from Cramant, Chouilly and Oiry.

#24 in The Enthusiast 100, 2024. Produced from top parcels of Chardonnay in the Côte des Blancs, this fine Champagne is impressive. It is rich and mature, the almond aroma and croissant flavor balanced by still bright citrus and minerality. It is a great wine, just right, ready to drink.

Tasted from magnum. Alongside the main release in 75cl, a limited number of magnums of 2012 Louis Salmon have been released simultaneously. Aged under cork during its second fermentation, these reframe the 2012’s already expressive aromatics in explosive charry, flinty energy and an extra degree of fluid freshness on the palate, representing an irresistible supercharging of the beautifully ripe lemon syrup, apricot and sweet spice flavours present in this fine release, nimble and transparent with a beautifully precise palate unmarked by dosage or some of the heavier, more concentrated fruit the year can bring. 60% from Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, with the remainder from Cramant, Chouilly and Oiry, with 25% barrel fermentation and 115 months on lees. Dosage 3.9g/L.

Fresh and appealing, with a refined, lively mousse and good cut to the focused flavors of poached apricot and lemon pound cake that show accents of pickled ginger, vanilla and pastry cream. Long and harmonious, with a well-spiced finish. Disgorged winter-spring 2023 (My Origin 121234). Drink now through 2035.