An icon’s “seamless and pillowy” rosé Champagne
- 96 pts Wine Advocate96 pts RPWA
- 96 pts James Suckling96 pts JS
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2009 Billecart-Salmon Cuvee Elisabeth Salmon Brut Rose Champagne 750 ml
- Curated by unrivaled experts
- Choose your delivery date
- Temperature controlled shipping options
- Get credited back if a wine fails to impress
Collector’s-Item Bottle from Grand Cru Sites
Every wine lover knows Billecart, but find someone with the 2009 Cuvée Elisabeth Salmon in their cellar and you’ve discovered a true aficionado.
Crafted only in excellent vintages, this is a special library bottle from an elite house. Wine Advocate called it “seamless and pillowy, with bright acids and a pure, precise profile,” awarding it 96 points—tying it for the publication’s highest score for rosé Champagnes from the vintage, along with heavy hitters like Cristal, Taittinger’s Brut Comtes, and Philipponat’s Clos des Goisses Juste.
Elisabeth Salmon’s 55% Pinot Noir and 45% Chardonnay come primarily from Grand Cru vineyards, yet its most distinctive source is a Premier Cru site called Valofroy. At this plot, Pinot Noir vines are up to 80 years old, and the grapes they contribute lend not just gorgeous color but also richness and power.
Billecart-Salmon takes a conservative, meticulous approach in the vineyard. They harvest earlier than most houses, achieving the maturity needed to produce intense, extroverted wines while preserving the delicate acidity that keeps them refined and fresh.
That balance plays out beautifully in this wine, which bursts with red fruit, citrus, and pastry aromas. A decade of aging on the lees has imbued the palate with a seductive texture, yet the wine remains remarkably dynamic, with vibrant acidity and a refreshing mineral undercurrent. A light dosage of seven grams of sugar per liter leaves the wine dry enough on the finish for a slow bow into the twilight.
Billecart-Salmon is the oldest continuously family-owned Champagne house, dating back to the 1818 marriage of Nicolas François Billecart and Elisabeth Salmon, this cuvée’s namesake. After all these years, this 2009 shows that Billecart has never been better.