Billecart-Salmon Champagne Le Blanc de Blancs NV
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95
James Suckling
A pure expression of Cote des Blancs, with aromas of citrus, chalky minerality and touches of flowers and stone fruit. Medium-bodied with a fine mousse and zesty acidity. Extremely focused, with pastry flavors. Disgorged June 2025. Based on the 2019 vintage with 23% reserve wines. Drink or hold.
The NV Brut Le Blancs de Blancs (base 2019) shows all the dimensions of an important base vintage in its textural breadth and overall presence. Lemon confit, marzipan, white flowers, tangerine oil and mint build through the mid-palate and into the huge, resonant finish. This fruit is from Grand Cru villages, specifically Mesnil-sur-Oger, Chouilly and Cramant. This heady NV Blanc de Blancs has a ton to offer. It’s an exceptional non-vintage bottling by any measure. In 2019 Billecart did not bottle their base vintage Champagne. Dosage is 3.9 grams per liter. Disgorged: June 2025.
From five grand cru vineyards in the Côte des Blancs, this 100% Chardonnay is a great wine, with some toast and almond flavors showing good bottle age, along with freshness, finesse, ripe white fruits and a structured, lingering aftertaste.
Disgorged in June 2024 with a dosage of 3.9 grams per liter and based on the 2018 vintage, supplemented by 37% reserve wines from 2017, 2016 and 2015, Billecart’s NV Le Blanc de Blancs offers up aromas of pear, lemon confit and freshly baked bread mingled with dried flowers. On the palate, it is medium- to full-bodied and fleshy yet vibrant, with a muscular core of fruit and racy acidity framed by chalky extract. It is brighter than one might anticipate for the vintage, though undeniably of lesser concentration than the 2019 rendition. As ever, it is vinified in stainless steel and, for this bottling, is anchored in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, complemented by wines from Chouilly, Cramant and Avize.
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