- Elegant, classy and sophisticated Chardonnay-dominant rosé
- A highly regarded rosé champagne around the world that is savoury and fresh
- Smaller format (375ml) perfect when a glass or two will do
This is at the lighter end of the spectrum when it comes to rosé due to the small addition of red wine. Billecart-Salmon have been advocates for rosé and have defined this genre of champagne which leans towards the savoury side.
There are aromas of pink grapefruit, citrus and delicate rosehip. The palate is light, playful with a creamy texture. If you haven't had this before, enjoy it with a good friend or someone you love.
Technical details
40% Chardonnay from Région de Vitry and Côte des Blancs. 30% Pinot Meunier from Vallée de la Marne, 30% Pinot Noir from Vallée de la Marne (Aÿ, Mareuil, Ambonnay) and Montagne de Reims (Rilly, Verzenay, Verzy), with 7% of Pinot Noir from Mareuil vinified as a red wine.
To maintain freshness, the houses disgorges as they go and adjusts the dosage for every batch. Dosage 9 g/L.
About the house
One of the leading families of Champagne, this medium sized, high quality domain is to be admired. Billecart-Salmon (pronounced beel-kahr sahl-moh) have a fresh, clean and elegant style. They champion the use of the meunier grape, which is often a added to other cuvees without fanfare in other houses. The absolutely pristine wine making facilities located in Mareuil-Sur-Ay are overseen by multiple generations of the family, as well as Chief Winemaker Francois Domi. The house purposely ferments at a lower temperature, lengthening the ferment to weeks and not days as can be standard in champagne, which helps capture the pristine nature of the fruit. Every step of the win making process at the house is artful, right down to the precision of the dosage, which is unique for every disgorgement conducted in batches.
Reviews
Some 20% of Billecart’s production is rosé (400,000 bottles), claimed to be the biggest proportion of rosé among Champagne’s larger houses (though Moët may have just caught up). The utter restraint of the house places delicate rosés very close to its heart, dubbed internally ‘champagne rosé’ rather than ‘rosé champagne’. Antoine recounts a tasting in which he poured the wine into black glasses for sommeliers. Not one identified it as a rosé. ‘When my grandfather began producing rosés in the early 1960s, most thought it a fanciful, artificial wine that lacked purity,’ he recalls. ‘He persevered, convinced it would have its place. Those sceptics are now making their own!’
As precise and pretty as ever, this is classically restrained Billecart of epic refinement, pale- salmon hue and gorgeously restrained rose petal, red cherry and strawberry hull fruit. This cuvée has attained that wonderful place where lees age contributes great texture and mouthfeel, without diminishing purity or freshness. Delightfully understated, eminently fresh and elegantly persistent, it carries with grace and poise amidst fine chalk mineral texture, taut acid focus, impeccably pure persistence and a fine, creamy bead. Enjoy it in its ravishing youth.
Tyson Stelzer
