Champagne Billecart-Salmon, Les Rendez-Vous, No. 2, Extra Brut
Critics reviews
A ‘small’ bottling that was initially designed as an experiment, not to be sold. Edition No. 2 is a 100% Pinot Noir (No. 1 was a 100% Meunier), of which 78% is wine from 2014 and the balance from 2012 and almost entirely from Ambonnay and Verzenay. Vinified in stainless steel with over five years on the lees and 2 g/l residual sugar
Beautiful nose of ripe red apples and raw cashew nuts – stunning. The palate is fine, rich and supple with a mineral streak – a lovely streak of acidity and a chalky finish. Elegant and very fine and long. Still tightly coiled and expressive – lean, dry and overridingly attractively chalky – a floral tinge towards the finish.
Drink 2021 - 2035
Alistair Cooper MW, JancisRobinson.com (December 2021)
Disgorged with two grams per litre dosage in December 2020, the NV Extra-Brut Les Rendez-Vous de Billecart-Salmon No. 2 is based on the 2014 vintage, complemented by some 22% reserve wines from 2012, all vinified in stainless steel. Offering up aromas of citrus oil and crisp green orchard fruit, it’s medium-bodied, bright and chiseled, with a pure core of fruit, tangy acids and a delicately chalky finish.
Drink 2021 - 2030
William Kelley, Wine Advocate (January 2022)
This has a deep, attractive nose of baked apples, spiced pears, plums, chamomile, pomelo peel and pastries. Hints of anise and walnuts. It’s medium-to full-bodied with vibrant acidity and a soft mousse. Caressing and round, yet delicate. Very fresh and pure fruit with subtly bitter cocoa and anise character at the end. 100% pinot noir. 78% base wine from 2014, with reserve wines from 2012. 2g/L dosage. Six years on lees, disgorged December 2020.
Drink now
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com (July 2022)
This is 100% Pinot Noir from the villages of Ambonnay and Verzenay in the Montagne de Reims from the 2014 vintage, with 22% of reserve wine from the 2012 vintage. Vinified entirely in stainless steel tanks. With a slight hint of butter, the bouquet appears fresh and pastry. With time, aromas of dried herbs, violet, citrus, pear and peach emerge from the glass. It has a very chalky palate with bright acidity, a chalky finish and a perfectly balanced structure. Not powerful, but layered and elegant. Perfect as an aperitif. Dosage: 2g/L.
Drink 2022 - 2024
Yohan Castaing, Decanter.com (December 2021)
About this WINE
Champagne Billecart-Salmon
Champagne Billecart-Salmon was founded in 1818 in the village of Mareuil-sur-Aÿ near Epernay. It remains family-owned and run; Mathieu Roland-Billecart represents the seventh generation here, following in the footsteps of founders Nicolas-François Billecart and Elisabeth Salmon.
A family tasting committee meets weekly, joined by chef du cave Florent Nys. The eight-person panel includes three generations of the family, notably including Jean Roland-Billecart (who alone has over 75 vintages of experience). Not one cuvée is released until every member of the committee agrees on the blend.
Billecart-Salmon is a large Champagne House, with around 100 hectares of vines of its own. The process of organic conversion for the vineyards was started in 2019. The house also buys fruit from growers covering another 300 hectares of vines. Most of the fruit comes from the Champagne sub-regions of Montagne de Reims, Vallée de la Marne and Côte des Blancs.
Blanc de Noirs
Blanc de Noirs describes a wine produced entirely from black grapes. In Champagne, Blanc de Noirs cuvée can be made from the two black grapes permitted within the appellation, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. Bollinger's prestige cuvée Vieilles Vignes Françaises, from ungrafted, old Pinot Noir vines, has set the yardstick in a style that is now produced by a number of other Champagne houses.
A typical Blanc de Noirs cuvée has a deep golden colour, and can be more intensely flavoured than the classic non-vintage, multi-grape blend.Recommended Producers: Cedric Bouchard, Bollinger
Pinot Noir
Pinot Noir is probably the most frustrating, and at times infuriating, wine grape in the world. However when it is successful, it can produce some of the most sublime wines known to man. This thin-skinned grape which grows in small, tight bunches performs well on well-drained, deepish limestone based subsoils as are found on Burgundy's Côte d'Or.
Pinot Noir is more susceptible than other varieties to over cropping - concentration and varietal character disappear rapidly if yields are excessive and yields as little as 25hl/ha are the norm for some climats of the Côte d`Or.
Because of the thinness of the skins, Pinot Noir wines are lighter in colour, body and tannins. However the best wines have grip, complexity and an intensity of fruit seldom found in wine from other grapes. Young Pinot Noir can smell almost sweet, redolent with freshly crushed raspberries, cherries and redcurrants. When mature, the best wines develop a sensuous, silky mouth feel with the fruit flavours deepening and gamey "sous-bois" nuances emerging.
The best examples are still found in Burgundy, although Pinot Noir`s key role in Champagne should not be forgotten. It is grown throughout the world with notable success in the Carneros and Russian River Valley districts of California, and the Martinborough and Central Otago regions of New Zealand.
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Description
A ‘small’ bottling that was initially designed as an experiment, not to be sold. Edition No. 2 is a 100% Pinot Noir (No. 1 was a 100% Meunier), of which 78% is wine from 2014 and the balance from 2012 and almost entirely from Ambonnay and Verzenay. Vinified in stainless steel with over five years on the lees and 2 g/l residual sugar
Beautiful nose of ripe red apples and raw cashew nuts – stunning. The palate is fine, rich and supple with a mineral streak – a lovely streak of acidity and a chalky finish. Elegant and very fine and long. Still tightly coiled and expressive – lean, dry and overridingly attractively chalky – a floral tinge towards the finish.
Drink 2021 - 2035
Alistair Cooper MW, JancisRobinson.com (December 2021)
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