Billecart-Salmon

Billecart-Salmon has been a family-owned Champagne house in Mareuil-sur-Aÿ for over 200 years, ever since the marriage of Nicolas François Billecart and Elisabeth Salmon. Its current owner, Mathieu Roland-Billecart, is the seventh generation at the helm of this great house, and one who consistently pushes the quality boundaries. Their unwavering focus on quality saw them beat 150 competitors to take first place with their 1959 Cuvée Nicolas-Francois Billecart in the 1999 Champagne of the Millennium competition. Mathieu has installed a beautiful new chai, complete with large oak barrels for ageing and started the house on the road to sustainability, employing organic farming methods in his vineyards. Billecart-Salmon’s Brut Rosé often takes centre stage as the benchmark against which all other rosé champagnes are based. Their Pinot Noir, the essential ingredient in their fine rosés, plus Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier, are grown in the house’s 100 hectares spread across 40 top crus. Their finest Pinot Noir comes from the tiny, one-hectare Clos Saint-Hilaire vineyard. It is worked meticulously, using horses to plough and sheep to graze between the vines and creates one of the many iconic champagnes of Billecart-Salmon.