BILLECART SALMON **375** BRUT LE RESERVE 375ML

Lovely aromas of raspberries, gingerbread, toast and honey on the nose. I like the generosity and concentration of flavor on the palate, with a medium body and soft, creamy bubbles. Long finish. 43% meunier, 29% chardonnay and 28% pinot noir, with over 50% reserve wines. Blend of 15 vintages, with percentages based on the 2020 vintage, back to 2006.

Based on the 2020 vintage (the youngest vintage serves as the “base” of a bottling, even if it does not represent the majority of the blend) and incorporating 71% reserve wines—half stored as individual vintages and the other half as a perpetual reserve initiated in 2006—Billecart-Salmon’s latest NV Le Réserve is showing nicely. It offers aromas of green pear, honeysuckle, brioche and white peach. Disgorged in early 2024 with a dosage of three grams per liter, this reimagined cuvée has recently undergone a significant reduction in dosage. The sweetness that so often presents itself on the finish of NV Champagnes from Grandes Marques is no more. Medium to full-bodied, lively and charming, with a textural attack and vibrant acidity, it culminates in a long, precise finish.

The first wine tasted in a short vertical to highlight the evolution of the NV Champagne Brut over the past several years, this release is from the 2016 vintage and is composed of 44% Meunier and 28% each Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, with 64% reserve wine, with 4% cask aging. Pouring a rich straw hue, it opens to generous and lightly toasty aromas of ripe red berries, caramel, and honeycomb. Medium to full-bodied, it’s ripe, rounded, expressive, and approachable, although it feels the touch of dosage in its texture as well as the suggestion of sweetness. Its fruit is ripe and long on the palate, with a hint of walnut skin on the long finish. It is certainly the classic, old school style, and compared to the other wines, has a bit broader shoulders. Its toasty touch likely comes from the malolactic fermentation that was permitted as opposed to oak.

A blend of the three main Champagne varieties, this Champagne is full of fruit, texture and touches of maturity. It is an accessible wine, fresh but with a fine depth.