Ron Siegel

9.3

Rich, fresh with notes of pear, apple, brioche, mineral & the complexity you get from a mature vintage. Sadly my last btl out of a case purchased on release. — 7 days ago

Vanessa

9.5

Happy New Year’s Eve to you all! 🎉

To celebrate the holiday, we’re popping this special bottle of bubbles we’ve been eager to try. 😝

It’s Champagne Philipponnat’s 2004 vintage champagne made with 65% Pinot Noir and 35% Chardonnay hailing from a single clos – Clos des Goisses – surrounded by a traditional stone wall in the Village of Mareuil-sur-Aÿ.  🍾

Talk about a singularity of place!  It was first produced as a single vineyard wine in 1935, a pioneering approach for a Champagne House in a land known for regional blending.

After fermentation, this wine aged on the lees for 10 YEARS in Philipponnat’s historic cellars in Mareuil-sur-Aÿ; a Premier Cru Village of the Grand Vallée de la Marne, located on the southerly flank of the Montagne de Reims, where Pinot Noir dominates like in the Grande Montagne.

Okay for the tasting note!  Wow. 🤯 It has pastry, brioche, nougat, and marzipan for days, next to toasted almond, lemon curd, white peach, baked yellow apple, dried chamomile, blossom, and wet slate notes. Despite its unequivocal richness, it has a spine of acidity lending balance and brightness.
 
Cheers to 2025; may it be filled with hope, health, joy, adventure, and amazing sips! 🍾🥂 — a year ago

with Deked1

Conrad Green

9.1

Marmalade in color. Oxidative notes with Apple cider vinegar but a freshness and drive too. Really interesting — 4 years ago

with Walker, Tony and 2 others

Ivor

9.0

L542. Pleasant champagne with almonds, marzipan, ginger, red ripe apple, a bit unrefined mousse. — 5 months ago

Vanessa

9.5

Prior notes continue to apply…

When we visited Billecart-Salmon in October of 2021, we received a tour of the stunning estate. Along the way, our guide, Jerome, paused near a traditional “Clos” (a single vineyard, enclosed by a wall) on the property. 

We could see a beautiful stone wall, surrounding a tiny 1 hectare parcel of “Clos Saint-Hilaire,” named after the Patron Saint & local church in Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, where Billecart-Salmon is located. 

Although we didn’t go into the Clos, we learned about how special this parcel is to the family; how it’s exclusively planted to Pinot Noir with vines dating back to 1964; how work in the vineyard is performed by hand and horse-drawn plows; how this parcel is farmed according to an age-old savoir-faire, adhering to principles of sustainable viticulture.

The wine is pale gold with a prominent bouquet of yellow apple, Anjou pear, raspberry, lemon curd, white peach, white blossom, desiccated white rose, wet stones, biscuit, brioche, almond paste, marzipan, crusty croissant, pie crust, toast, creamy texture and persistent, fine-beaded mousse and long elegant finish.

This is a 2005 “Blanc de Noirs” Champagne, comprised of 100% Pinot Noir, all coming from Le Clos Saint Hilaire, vinified entirely in oak casks to lend texture and body, and aged over 13 years sur lie prior to its recent release.  Due to the vineyard’s small size, production is very limited, and wine only produced in the best vintages.

Cheers to beautiful wines expressing a singularity of time and place!

Billecart-Salmon Le Clos Saint-Hilaire (2005).  — 10 months ago

with Deked1

Vanessa

9.4

Today we began with a visit to Billecart-Salmon, which has been family owned since 1818. They are 7 generations strong, producing between 2 and 2.5 million bottles per year. We received our informative tour from Jérôme Lafouge. 👏

He explained how Billecart-Salmon grows and manages many of the vines used to produce their wines; they also source grapes 🍇 from other growers, but otherwise own the production process from the pressing of the grapes on… the facilities are pristine and processes are executed meticulously.

Each wine is vinified by vineyard plot. A unique feature of Billecart-Salmon is its decision to have a slow, cool fermentation process for all of its wine - both those vinified in barrels and those in stainless steel tanks - a process that takes 6 weeks to complete.

Each winemaking decision is customized based upon the type and condition of the grapes, e.g., some undergo a malolactic fermentation (where tart malic acid is converted to soft, lactic acid) while others may not, some have a first fermentation in oak where as some are stainless steel, etc.

At the end of our tour we had the pleasure to taste a few beautiful wines (pictured here).

Our favorite was the 2002 Vintage Cuvée Nicolas François comprised of 60% Pinot Noir from Mareuil-Sur-Aÿ, Aÿ, Ambonnay, and Verzenay and 40% Chardonnay from Chouilly, Cramant, and Avize.

This wine was clearly developing lovely tertiary aromas. It also had great complexity retaining its primary and secondary notes. It was disgorged January of 2016, resting over a decade on the lees.

The aromas and palate had caramel, toffee, brioche, pie crust, toast, hazelnut, cream, melted butter, honey, ginger, candied lemon peel, quince, fig, and chamomile notes.

What an enjoyable experience and we loved meeting some new friends on the tour from Savannah, Georgia and Canada.

Santé mes amis 🥂🥂🥂 — 5 years ago

with Deked1

Jay Kline

9.1

The Hébrart domaine is located right on the Marne, in the village of Aÿ, catty-corner to Philipponnat. Their 1er cru Rosé, NV is a 60/40 mix of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, aged in INOX (with a small portion of the PN added as vin rouge aged in barrique). What’s most important, is that it’s delicious.

Popped and poured; enjoyed over the course of an hour. The wine pours a very pretty pink color with a persistent mousse. On the nose, the wine is developing with notes of ripe strawberry, raspberry, lemon, pink flowers, marzipan and limestone minerals. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is medium+ with a lovely, creamy texture. Serious enough for the nerds; seriously gluggable for the revelers. Disgorged April of 2023. Drink now. — 5 months ago

Willie Carter

9.2

My go to rosé and for good reason. The sweet smell of summer and romance is all over this. Cranberries and wild strawberries with a nice herbal element. The wind in her air and a song on her lips. Chalk and honeysuckle with a nice touch of yeast notes.

Chardonnay dominant with an extra brut dosage. Crisp, refreshing, and utterly delicious. Inviting and generous with racy acidity and a ton of character. Focused with plenty and depth. Summer berries in the mouth along with memories of that weekend on the beach with her. For me, an essential champagne to always keep on hand. For remembering those more blissful times.
— 3 years ago

Tracy Hall

9.6

Lovely aromatics of pear with a just right crispness and light grape saline finish. Super balanced. Love this! disgorged March 16, 2021 TBL — 4 years ago

Lauren Golanty

8.9

A good champagne. Drank kind of… young? Balanced but not graceful, hefty but a little too eager. All of the flavor was BOOM, right up front, and it was more green apple rind than anything. Good - maybe not my thing. — 5 years ago