Billecart-Salmon Le Clos Saint-Hilaire 2006
This cuvée Blanc de Noirs vinified in oak casks allows the richness of the terroir and the purity of the wine to express itself. Billecart-Salmon Le Clos Saint-Hilaire 2006 is a rare vintage of incredible typicity will live on for future decades with strength and elegance.
In the 1950s my grandmother set aside this park-like space next to our house in Mareuil-sur-Aÿ with vines, flowers and fruit trees, for our enjoyment. Realising this outstanding terroir's potential, my family decided to plant the first Pinot Noir vines here in 1964. We tried using the Pinot Noir to make white wine in small Burgundy barrels: an outstanding champagne was about to be born. After several years of painstakingly tending the vines, the 1995 harvest, the first year of this unique cuvée, was remarkable. We called it Le Clos Saint-Hilaire after the patron saint of the church in Mareuil-sur-Aÿ. No more than 3,500 to 7,500 bottles are produced each year and each is individually numbered. - François Roland-Billecart, 6th Generation
The Clos Saint-Hilaire is a single parcel where the vines, soil and subsoil are carefully tended with respect for the environment. Several years ago, BILLECART-SALMON decided to return to ancestral champagne-making methods in the Clos Saint-Hilaire by using work horses. This method of maintaining the soil and tending the vines increases porosity and biodiversity: the roots grow deep and the minerals they draw from the soil foster the growth of smaller, more concentrated grapes, revealing the terroir's typical flavour.
The magic of a terroir blended with expertise and ancestral know-how, reveals a deep yellow gold hue, underlined by intensely golden reflections. The graceful effervescence of fine bubbles softened by the patina of time. A noble, racy expression with an extremely complex, vinous impact on the nose (touch of biscuit, fresh roasted hazelnuts, white pepper). A refined development highlighting the scintillating concentrations of ripe and intense fruit (nuts and sweet spices). The ample and imposing texture, with hints of citrus fruit flesh and pears in syrup (candied lemon zest, mandarin pulp), emerges against a base note of panettone. With a richness bursting with flavours (puffed buckwheat and precious wood), the wine is carried by a fullness of taste with bewitching charm culminating in a deliciously chalky root mineral.
Each rare vintage of this unique grande cuvée consists of no more than 6,000 bottles. When served at cellar temperature (12/14°), this micro cuvée will surprise your palate when paired with Wild Turbot and Burmese coffee.
The Finer Details
Style - Champagne
Varietal - Blanc de Noirs (Pinot Noir)
Country - France
Region - Champagne
Vintage - 2006
Bottle Size - 750ml
ABV - 12%