Billecart-Salmon Cuvee Nicolas Francois Brut

The Billecart family has lived in Mareuil-sur-Ay since the 16th century. When Nicolas François Billecart married Élisabeth Salmon in the early 1800s, the ancient vineyards of both families were united. This prompted Nicolas to leave his legal practice and engage in winemaking at the family estate. In 1818, he founded the Billecart-Salmon Champagne House, which today is the oldest continuously operating family House in Champagne. It is currently managed by the seventh generation — brothers François and Antoine Roland-Billecart. The cellars are under the control of the famous "chef de cave" François Domi. The Billecart-Salmon House owns a total of 15 hectares of vineyards. Eleven of them are located in the Vallée de la Marne — 4 ha Grand Cru in Aÿ and Premier Cru in Mareuil-sur-Ay, 7 ha in the village of Damery. In the Côte de Blanc, the family owns 4 ha of Grand Cru vineyards in the villages of Chouilly, Avize, and Le Mesnil-sur-Oger. Additionally, the House rents another 50 ha of vineyards in Champagne and purchases fruit from other estates. Regarding the harvest, one of the distinguishing aspects of the Billecart-Salmon House is the belief that an early harvest allows for the creation of more elegant and subtle champagne, and that a strong natural acidity should serve as a preservative rather than alcohol. Another distinctive feature of the Billecart-Salmon House is their practice of double cooling of the must to remove sediment, which they began implementing in 1952. This technology involves primary cooling of the grape juice for 12 hours. The juice is then transferred to clean tanks for a second — colder — clarification, where it is cooled for 48 hours at a temperature of 2 °C. After this, a long slow fermentation is initiated with the addition of dry yeast for 5 weeks to preserve as many delicate fruit aromas as possible. The Pinot Meunier variety particularly benefits from this process, which Billecart-Salmon considers a vital component in world-class champagne, while many producers shy away from Pinot Meunier because its delicate aromas can easily be destroyed during fermentation. Next, malolactic fermentation is conducted, except in certain years when, depending on the characteristics of the vintage, it is not applied. The champagnes of the Billecart-Salmon House can confidently be called a benchmark in their class. In addition to their delightful tasting characteristics, they possess another important quality — the ability to age well. In 1999, the cuvée "Nicolas-Francois Billecart" from the 1959 vintage won the "Champagne of the Millennium" competition, surpassing 150 of the best champagnes of the 20th century.