Billecart-Salmon : Blanc de Blancs 1999

Hailing from a richer, softer vintage, Billecart’s 1999 Brut Blanc de Blancs is now fully mature and drinking with notable generosity, emerging from the glass with a deep bouquet of dried apricot, sweet peach and tangerine, mingled with dried flowers, brioche and a top note of roasted cacao bean. On the palate, it is medium- to full-bodied, ample and fleshy, offering an enveloping, textural profile underpinned by ripe yet racy acidity and enlivened by a pinpoint mousse, concluding in a lemon-inflected finish, its brightness accentuated by largely blocked malolactic fermentation. Highly expressive yet comparatively low in acidity, it is showing beautifully today, even if it is somewhat less harmonious than the 1998 rendition. Composed of fruit from Chouilly, Cramant and Avize, with three-quarters vinified in stainless steel, it was disgorged in April 2012 with a dosage of six grams per liter.

Firm, with a light grain to the texture and a hint of brine accenting green pear, lemon curd, smoke and biscuit notes. Ends with a moderate, mineral-tinged finish. Drink now through 2016.

Very attractive development with plenty of grilled hazelnut, lemon rind, lime marmalade and riper notes of nectarine and ginger biscuit. There's a fresh lemon edge, and some lemon curd, too. The palate has a sleek, composed and very smoothly rendered core of lemon and lime citrus, with yellow grapefruit and lemon curd with almond biscuit flavors to finish. Disgorged 2011 and tasted ex-museum at the cellars. Brilliant freshness. Drink now.

The 1999 Brut Blanc de Blancs is another deep, multi-dimensional wine from Billecart-Salomon. Here the fruit shows slightly more burnished tones, along with greater textural richness and weight, all while retaining surprising verve and cut. Roasted hazelnuts, smoke and pastry crust add complexity on the suave finish. This is Lot 265048 25010J. Disgorged May 14th, 2010.

A Champagne of great delicacy, with fine notes of mirabelle plum and toast, a racy, pure length, and tenderness without softness.

Quite discreet and reductive on the nose, with great finesse for the vintage. The palate shows elegant bubbles, no softness, and a lovely persistence. A successful 1999. (Dec. 2010)

A beautifully crisp wine, very mineral, with its citrus and green apple flavors given a fine texture of bright acidity. It is still so young, with just a hint of toast to show some maturity. The finish is shockingly fresh.