Billecart-Salmon : Cuvée Elisabeth Salmon Rosé 2009

Incorporating fully 10% still red wine, Billecart's 2009 Brut Rosé Cuvée Elisabeth Salmon is showing beautifully, delivering fragrant aromas of plums, stone fruits, petals, sweet spices and marzipan. Medium to full-bodied, fleshy and elegant, it's seamless and pillowy, with bright acids and a pure, precise profile, concluding with a bright, saline finish. In 2009, it was vinified entirely in stainless steel.

An elegant rosé Champagne that seamlessly knits juicy acidity and fine-grained texture with a subtle, smoke-laced underpinning and a delicate mesh of wild strawberry, kirsch, mandarin orange peel and toasted brioche flavors. Harmonious, with an open-knit, spiced finish. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Disgorged July 2021. Drink now through 2029.

A slightly flinty and vibrant bouquet alongside complex aromas of red berries, herbs and lemon, with fresh menthol notes coming through with some air. The palate is wonderful and elegant, with a vinous texture and a superb, calcareous finish. A blend of 45% Chardonnay and 55% Pinot Noir (including 9% vinified as red wine), this Champagne, which has a dosage of 7g/L, is made for ageing.

Copper-orange color with aromas of grapefruit pith, cherry stones, dried roses, white pepper, pastries, walnuts and oyster shells. Refined and elegant with pretty, dried red and citrus fruit, layered with subtle spice and toast. Fine bubbles. Dry. 55% pinot noir from Mareuil-sur-Ay and Ay, and 45% Grand Cru chardonnay from Cote des Blancs, with 10% of pinot noir red wine. Dosage 7g/L. Disgorged in July 2021. Drink or hold.

55% Pinot Noir from old vines in Aÿ and Mareuil-sur-Aÿ. 45% grand cru Chardonnay from the Côte des Blancs. 10% of the Pinot was vinified as a still red wine. Dosage 7 g/l. Very pale, glowing salmon-orange colour. Rich, complex nose with a burnished copper note (somehow). Very luscious and seductive. Strawberry flavours, but not sweet or simple at all. Creamy-smooth texture, yet with enough acidity – even in this ripe vintage – to keep the wine appetising and intriguing on the finish. Great stuff! A wine to take you straight to the table… (JR)

The 2009 Brut Rosé Cuvée Elisabeth Salmon is such a joyous Champagne. Intensely floral and effusive, the 2009 is a real charmer. Kirsch, sweet red cherry fruit, orange peel, mint, chalk and white pepper are all finely woven together. This is an especially brisk style, both for the year and for Billecart. If anything, the dosage feels a bit low here, which gives the wine chiseled contours and a slightly austere personality.

The Queen of Rosé at Billecart-Salmon, the Elizabeth Salmon 2009 reigns supreme as an assemblage of the best vins clairs selected blind, by unanimous committee of eight no less, to represent the vintage. This 2009 is a blend of 55% Pinot Noir with 10% of the Pinot added as still wine, and 45% Grand Cru Chardonnay only from the Côte des Blancs that was mostly cold fermented in stainless steel with a portion vinified in barrel, underwent prolonged aging, then was finished with seven grams per liter dosage. Flush with radiant notes of black plum cobbler, Meyer lemon curd, crème brûlée, cardamom, and whipped honey with nuances of fresh brioche and almond nougat following in the aromatic train. Medium to full-bodied and opulent at first sip, the palate is velvety and lush with an astounding depth of black cherry and ripe citrus concentration that is brightly cloaked in shimmering acidity and studded with honey notes on a silky finish that just goes on and on. Disgorged July 2021. Lot: L85147

One of the great rosés, this Champagne named after a member of the family, is ripe with layers of red fruits and tight acidity. This vintage is still amazingly young, fresh and crisp with only a hint of maturity creeping in at the end. Drink now, and also age further.