#18 VinePair's Top 50 of 2018

95pts Decanter

A fine straw-gold colour with great finesse of bubble flow and mousse. Joyful aromas of apple blossom and ripe pear. A full, defined palate demonstrates richness that will help to give this a long life in the cellar.

91pts Wine & Spirits

This blend includes 40 percent pinot meunier, the balance equal parts pinot noir and chardonnay. Its remarkable fruitiness might be tied to the firm’s long, slow, cool fermentations, which, they believe, allow meunier to maintain its perfume. This is a graceful, vinous Champagne with dramatic high notes of roses and red fruit, finishing clean with a grounding of pale earthiness. It’s a lovely prediction of what Champagne might become in a warming climate.

91pts Wine Spectator

A harmonious Champagne that's satiny in texture, framing flavors of Asian pear, star fruit, pastry and honey with mouthwatering acidity. Offers a fine and creamy finish. Drink now through 2021.

91pts Wilfred Wong

A most satisfying brut, the non-vintage Billecart-Salmon Brut Reserve does a great job in coating the palate with the sense of refreshment; plenty rich on the palate, with apple and other core fruits; dry in the finish. This looks like a superior main entree wine.

91pts James Suckling

Plenty of ripe strawberries and wild raspberries on the nose here. Really attractive and vibrant in the mouth with fresh wild strawberries. It also shows a fleshy, fresh-fruit texture. Drink now.

90pts Wine Enthusiast

This producer's nonvintage cuvée showcases a blend of grapes from all the regions of Champagne. Rich with white stone fruit, it balances ripe acidity and a taut texture. This complex wine is ready to drink.

90pts Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

The Billecart-Salmon NV Brut Réserve is a blend of 40% Pinot Meunier (sourced in the Vallée de la Marne and the Coteaux Sud d'Epernay), 30% Chardonnay (from different villages along the Marne) and 30% Pinot Noir (from the Montagne de Reims and the Grande Vallée de la Marne). The recent disgorgement from January 2018 is straw-yellow in color and based 40% on the 2015 harvest, with 60% of reserve wines. The result is a light and delicately fruity flavored cuvée with aromatic and spicy Pinot Meunier and redcurrant aromas intertwined with chalky expressions and notes of ripe pears and yeast. Round and fresh on the palate, this is a light, finessed, elegant, very delicate and harmoniously fruity Brut with a stunningly intense, persistent, well-structured and purely salty finish. Very stimulating as a soloist, aperitif or with lighter dishes.

Winemaker Notes

Fine bubbles which rise slowly, persistent mousse. Straw-colored. A nose of ripe pear with some touches of cut hay. Full fruit, but clean in the mouth. This cuvée contains 40% Pinot Meunier, 30% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay. All wines from the best sites in the department of the Marne, from more than twenty top vineyards in Champagne. The overall composition of this cuvée has not changed much for almost fifty years.

Fresh and long tasting, the Brut Réserve may be drunk on all occasions.