Billecart Salmon - Champagner Le Reserve Extra Brut

JAMES SUCKLING: "Plenty of pinot character with strawberry and dried apple and some flint and matchstick, as well as stone. It’s medium- to full-bodied with freshness, a creamy texture and a long, delicious finish. 40% pinot meunier, 30% chardonnay and 30% pinot noir. 28% 2019 and the rest reserve wine going back to 2006. Dosage 3g/l. Drink now."

DECANTER: "Billecart-Salmon's 2019-based Brut Réserve continues the impressive rebirth of this cuvée, showing more focus, length and sapidity than previous versions. The dosage has dropped to 3g/L (from 9g/L in 2016), but the delicious nut oil and brown bread reserve wine depth props up roasted lime and apricot fruit. One to watch. 40% Meunier, 30% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay."

LISA PERROTTI-BROWN: "Light burnished gold with a fine, evanescent bead and finished with a three gram per liter dosage, the Billecart-Salmon Brut Réserve NV is a 40% Pinot Meunier, 30% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay blend based on the 2019 vintage with a dominant 62% of reserve wines, the oldest of which is from 2006. From this deep bench of vinous blending emerge perfumed aromas of poached pear, persimmon, dried iris blooms, and a whiff of toast comingling with smoky and bready autolytic notes. Medium-bodied and round, the palate has a vinous texture with ample ripe fruit sweetness, vivacious acidity to balance and grace notes of fresh lemon to add brightness to the finish. Disgorged in the third quarter of 2022."

WINE ENTHUSIAST: "The tiny mousse tells a lot about the quality of this impressive Champagne. It is quite full in style, with flavors of white currants and a rich, but still bone-dry aftertaste. It is a perfect food Champagne, with structure and a good tension between richness and elegance. Imported by Robert Chadderdon Selections."

THE WINE ADVOCATE: "Based on the 2018 vintage, with 55% of reserve wines, the NV Brut Réserve from Billecart-Salmon is a blend of 40% Pinot Meunier, 30% Chardonnay and 30% Pinot Noir, with a dosage of 6.2 grams per liter. It offers a bouquet with aromas of spring flowers, menthol, pastry, brioche, orchard fruits and pear. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is moderately weighted, with a delicate mousse and a perfectly balanced texture. Very charming. It concludes with a saline, aromatic finish. It represents the first stage in the qualitative evolution of the house, initiated by Mathieu Roland-Billecart."

JEB DUNNUCK: "The second wine tasted in this cuvée’s retrospective comes from the 2018-based vintage and is 31% Meunier, 29% Pinot Noir, and the rest Chardonnay, with 55% reserve wine with 8% in cask fermentation. A pale straw hue, the NV Champagne Brut Reserve is more focused, both in its aromatics and in its personality on the palate, with notes of white peach, lemon drop, and wet stone lifting from the glass. The palate offers more tension, with a more refined mousse, notes of candied citrus rounding out the mid-palate, and a light salinity on the finish. This release offers a more food-friendly and gastronomic direction and is certainly a more compelling wine. Drink 2024-2034. They blocked most of the malo this vintage (about 70%), and it feels like it will mature at a slower pace. Drink 2023-2033. Dosage is 6.5 grams per liter. Origin number 181118; Disgorged 3rd quarter of 2022."

FALSTAFF: "Hellgelb mit goldenem Einschlag. Sehr frische Aromatik mit Zitrusnoten, insbesondere Limettenblättern, dazu Nuancen von grünem Apfel, dezent auch Salzmandeln. Am Gaumen frisch mit feiner Perlage, Nuancen von Ananas und eher zurückhaltender Säure. Endet mittellang."

WINE SPECTATOR: " A toasty underpinning of brioche and roasted nuts imparts subtle richness to flavors of ripe plum, wild cherry, preserved lemon and saffron. Refreshing and well-knit, with a satiny mousse. Lively finish. Pinot Meunier, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir."