2006 Billecart-Salmon Cuvee Nicolas François Champagne (1.5 L) Magnum

Billecart-Salmon has long been one of the Wine Access team’s favorite Champagne houses. They rarely release Cuvée Nicolas François, and only a small portion of this tête de cuvée gets the larger-than-life, supremely ageable magnum treatment. 

2006 yielded wines of finely balanced extremes, with a distinct richness from the hot midsummer days and an intense freshness born of cool September nights. The vintage conditions played right into the Billecart-Salmon style, and critics agreed that no one captured the moment better.

Champagne expert Peter Liem called this wine “opulent and creamy” and “vivid in structure.” Vinous hailed it as “a jewel of a wine” in their 97-point review, and Wine Advocate gushed over the ‘06’s “amazingly pure” and “perfectly balanced” greatness. 

Billecart dates back to 1818, when the Billecart and Salmon families merged to form the house as it stands. Seventh-generation François and Antoine Roland-Billecart run the show today, and it was their grandfather who created the Cuvée Nicolas François, which was first bottled in 1964, as a tribute to the house’s founder. It was then and has remained a blend of 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay. The 2006 was blended entirely from Grand Cru vineyards in the Montagne de Reims (Pinot) and Côte de Blancs (Chard). 

Billecart-Salmon takes a conservative and meticulous approach in both the vineyard and the cellar. They harvest earlier than most Champagne houses, achieving the physical maturity necessary to produce rich and extroverted wines while preserving the delicate acidity that keeps them unusually refined and fresh.