How do you make a 100-point Champagne? Here's Antoine Roland-Billecart, deputy general manager at Champagne Billecart-Salmon, describing what they do to bring the best out of their wines. The Billecart-Salmon Champagne Le Clos St.-Hilaire Brut 2002 was one of three perfect 100-point-scoring wines in our recent Champagne report, which you can read here.
Billecart-Salmon was founded in the 1800s when Nicolas Francois Billecart married Elisabeth Salmon. The families both held vineyards and these also fell under the bond. Today, it is one of the few estates that is still completely family-owned and managed. Watch the video to hear Antoine Roland-Billecart describe the style of Billecart-Salmon. Its most important wine is the Brut Reserve, which he describes as "the signature of our house." Billecart-Salmon also likes to emphasize vintages where the acidity is the dominant element in the structure; over-structured, powerful wines are something they want to avoid.
