Billecart Salmon Le Clos Saint-Hilaire Champagne 2006

Our Verdict

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 and sheep. 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 Clos Saint-Hilaire has created an exceptional champagne which is named after the patron saint of Mareuil-sur-Aÿ. Made exclusively from Pinot Noir vinified in oak casks, it develops an outstanding purity. 

For each vintage, there is a limited release of between 3,500 to 5,500 individually numbered bottles.

"Baked raspberries, salted yellow plums, figs, walnuts, orange zest, mahogany and some toasted vanilla on the nose. Medium-to full-bodied with beautifully integrated, very fine bubbles. Dry, with exciting and unique white-pepper and sea-salt notes. Seamless. So harmonious. Salty and spicy clove notes evolving at the end. Amazing precision. Single parcel pinot noir, 100% vinified in oak barrels. No malo. 2g/l dosage. Disgorged November 2020. 6,750 bottles. Drink or hold." 99 Points, JamesSuckling

"Disgorged in November 2020 with two grams per liter dosage, Billecart-Salmon's newly released 2006 Brut Le Clos Saint-Hilaire is showing well, unwinding in the glass with aromas of pear, mirabelle plum, dried fruits, walnuts, bee pollen and spices. Full-bodied, layered and vinous, it's a concentrated, muscular young wine, allying maturing flavors with broad structural shoulders and racy acids and concluding with a long, resonant and slightly mordant finish. From a parcel planted in 1964 and vinified entirely in oak, this is a powerful Champagne of considerable presence that needs some more time on cork to unwind and round out." 95+ points, William Kelley, Wine Advocate

Ratings
Vintage 2002 - 100 Points
Vintage 2003 - 100 points
Vintage 2004 - no production
Vintage 2005 - no production
Vintage 2006 - new!

• Size 750ml
• ABV 12.5%

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