Champagne Billecart-Salmon, Mareuil-Sur-Aÿ, Champagne
Size of vineyards
The House cultivates an estate of 100 hectares and obtains grapes from an area totalling 220 hectares, in 40 crus of Champagne region. The majority of the grapes used for vinification come from a radius of 20km around Epernay.
Winemaker
François Domi, Chef de Cave
The history/story of the vineyard.
Christof studied Business Administration at Vienna University intent on pursuing a career in banking. His astute business sense alerted him to the fact that working in his father’s wine business during his studies enhanced his financial and, naturally, his social quality of life no end! During his first university vacation in 1997 he travelled to wine fairs in the USA, Panama and Italy. By the end of the summer he had experienced the challenges and excitement of his first harvest. Before he knew it he was hooked, dreams of banking a distant memory. The next summer breaks were filled with internships at wineries in Sonoma, Carmernet, Leeuwin Estate, Margaret River and Graf Hardegg, Austria. Christof was keen to learn as much about different wine making techniques across the world. An OIV wine marketing programme at UC Davies and visits to the wine regions of South Africa helped round of his training.
15 years on he owns and runs Hoepler a 47 hectare estate on the slopes of the Leitaberg Hills on the shores of the Neusieedlee Lake in Austria. This unique microclimate enables Hoepler to make white, red and dessert wines. Hoepler exports 70% of its wine to 35 States in USA, UK, Holland, the Baltics and Scandinavia. Gordon Ramsay, Jamie Oliver, the Queen Mary II, The Estonian Prime Minster and the famous von Trapp Family Lodge of Sound of Music fame are just some of his more well known customers. His wines have won numerous Gold medals at the International Wine Challenge in London, the AWC, Vienna, Wine Spectator and Wine Enthusiast in the USA and he even won 99 points by Wine Enthusiast for his dessert wine, something he is still trying to top! Christof lectures at the University of Applied Sciences in Krems, Austria.
In 1818, Nicolas François Billecart and his spouse Elisabeth Salmon founded their Champagne House in Mareuil-Sur-Aӱ where the Billecart family has been established since the 17th Century. Since the early 19th Century six generations have succeeded each other at the family home in the heart of the Champagne Region each living by the same motto: “Give priority to quality, strive for excellence”.
Two of the House’s vintage cuvées have since been named in honour of the two founders. The Cuvée Nicolas François Billecart was created in 1964, with the Cuvée Elisabeth Salmon Rosé following in 1988. Current vintages include the Cuvée Nicolas François Billecart 2002 which is soon to be joined by the Cuvée Elisabeth Salmon Rosé 2006, due for release at the end of 2015.
Today, the family perpetuates its legend thanks to François and Antoine Roland-Billecart, representing the sixth generation of the family, who lead this independent House in conjunction with their father, Jean Roland-Billecart.
Viticulture
House’s most exclusive cuvée is cultivated in the Clos Saint-Hilaire, with Pinot Noir grown from half a century of careful cultivation. This one hectare of precious land was planted in 1964 and is sheltered by a stone wall. Harvest after harvest, an exceptional champagne of rare complexity and stunning freshness is created. After several years of painstakingly tending the vines the first limited release of this unique cuvée was the 1995 vintage. Although not officially recognised, the production methods of the Clos Saint-Hilaire are all completely organic.
Winemaking style/philosophy.
The delicacy of Champagne Billecart-Salmon comes from combining the best traditions with the best modern vinification methods.
The House of Billecart-Salmon has preserved ancestral vinification methods handed down from generation to generation and is constantly perfecting them. Always conscious to improve the quality of their champagnes, in the fifties the House established the technique of chilling the must combined with the use of stainless steel tanks for a longer fermentation at a lower temperature. Over time, the wines conserve their freshness, the aromas intensify, allowing the Billecart-Salmon champagnes to deliver all it promises. On the perpetual quest for excellence, a new chai was built to hold more than 450 oak barrels to skilfully enhance the vinification of the vintage wines.