By: Ryan Tedder
Last night we had another epic Champagne dinner in our boardroom with a special group of friends. The object of our desire was the excellent wines from Champagne House Billecart-Salmon, the oldest family owned Champagne house in operation. The style of the wines was richness, layers and impressive length. We had the pleasure of hosting Clement Calleja from New York to speak about the house and we drank through the 5 killer wines you see above. To help with the inherent richness of the wines we decanted the 99 Nicolas Francois and we should have done the 2004 Blanc de Blancs, because it improved so dramatically with air.
The line-up for the night began with the NV Billecart Salmon Brut Reserve as a starter and the wine was precise and pleasurable as always. I have been told this is a gluten free Champagne for those with extreme gluten aversion. The wine was attractive with good up-front fruit and an accessible personality. Flowers, dried pears and spices are some of notes that linger on the finish. Pure. With our delicious first course of tuna we enjoyed some excellent NV Billecart Salmon Blanc de Blancs from Magnum! The only thing better than Champagne is Champagne from Magnum! High-pitched citrus and orchard fruit scents were complemented by notes of honeysuckle, lemongrass and chalky minerals. Spicy, focused and mineral-driven, with intense Meyer lemon, tangerine and pear flavors with a hint of brioche. Next up was one of my favorites of the night – especially with a few more years of bottle age I hypothesize. The 2004 Billecart Salmon Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru was a spectacular bottle of wine. I got loads of chalk, white truffle, honeydew melon, sourdough bread, citrus blossoms and spearmint. The nose was over the top exotic and the palate was damn powerful. I wine that I kept revisiting throughout the night. What a stunner! We drank it side by side with the NV Billecart Salmon Brut Rose with a wonderful Sea Bass dish with apricot demi-delish! The Brut Rose is one of my top Roses and it always delivers the goods! It was pretty and gracious wine. Freshly cut roses, red berries and spices took shape nicely in the glass as the wine showed off its understated, timeless personality. You cannot beat this wine’s consistency. The Tete de Cuvee 1999 Billecart Salmon Cuvee Nicolas Francois Billecart showed with all its wild, mineral driven personality. The release schedule of this wine is wonky as they release it when the cellar master says its ready to drink. We have already enjoyed the 2000 and 2004 and they were fat and open. The 1999 in contrast was a brooding bubbler loaded with pent-up complexity. Air did the wine well. It had an exotically perfumed nose with fresh pear, iodine, white flowers and toasted brioche, with gingery spice and mineral notes adding vibrancy. Rich and weighty but quite lithe and focused, it offered sappy orchard and citrus fruit flavors and chalky mineral nuances. Some smoky notes with excellent focus and lingering floral character. A truly impressive cuvee to be sure! This will age wonderfully. Quite the good time!
After the amazing dinner we polished off these 4 kickass Champagne amigos as well!
1997 Champagne Salon
1995 Dom Perignon P2 Oeno Rose
2000 Krug Vintage
1990 Veuve Clicquot Cave Privee from Magnum!!