Billecart-Salmon Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Brut Champagne NV

"I do not get to taste Billecart-Salmon these days with anywhere near the frequency I once did, so I was delighted to have an opportunity to taste this bottle of their non-vintage Blanc de Blancs from the Base Year of 2014. The wine is made from fruit sources in the villages of Mesnil, Chouilly, Cramant and Avize, with the vins clairs fermented and raised in stainless steel tanks. Part of the malo is blocked in certain vintages and the wine includes up to forty percent reserve wines from the previous vintage. It was finished with a dosage of eight grams per liter and is drinking beautifully today, offering up an almost silky palate impression. The bouquet is nicely polished and quite complex, wafting from the glass in a mix of lemon, tart pear, chalky minerality, bread dough, white flowers and a topnote of citrus peel. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied and nicely mineral in personality, with a fine core of fruit, elegant mousse and a long, complex and very nicely balanced finish. This is really drinking very nicely and still has plenty of life ahead of it."

- John Gilman, 93pts.