Billecart-Salmon Elisabeth Salmon Brut Rose 2012
£450.00
Created in 1988 as a tribute to the House’s co-founder, the 2012 Cuvée Elisabeth Salmon is a prestigious vintage rosé of exceptional rarity and elegance. It presents a luminous salmon-pink hue with copper reflections and a fine, persistent bead. The nose is intense and multifaceted, opening with delicate notes of redcurrants, wild strawberries, and citrus zest, which evolve into complex layers of sweet spices, dried flower petals, and a hint of fresh brioche. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied and precise, showcasing a majestic balance between its rich red fruit core and a chalky, crystalline acidity. The texture is incredibly silky, leading to a long, mineral-driven finish with remarkable tension and persistence.
Food Pairing: Perfectly complements sophisticated dishes like pan-seared scallops, wild salmon with a berry reduction, roasted poultry with summer truffles, or a delicate lobster thermidor.
97 Points – James Suckling
This has a lovely copper color with aromas of cloves, spiced apples, raspberries, gingerbread and pastries. Delicious yeasty and spicy undertones. Excellent density and focus, with fine and firm bubbles, yet it’s light on its feet and so fresh. Long, chalky and salty at the end. Chardonnay and pinot noir. 3.8g/L dosage. Drink or hold.
95 Points – Wine Enthusiast
First produced in 1988 and made only in top years, this Champagne is named after the producer’s founder. With age (more than nine years on lees), it has developed a patina of toastiness and roundness. There is a toasty character that chimes with this fine wine’s crisp texture.
95 Points – Wine Spectator
Sleek and elegant, with a seamless knit, this is finely textured, with the raw silk–like mousse carrying flavors of peach skin, white cherry and toast point that show hints of white blossoms, pickled ginger and oyster shell through the lasting finish.
94 Points – Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
Disgorged in January 2023 with dosage of 3.8 grams per liter, Billecart’s 2012 Rosé Elisabeth Salmon is a dramatic, extroverted wine, soaring from the glass with a bouquet of raspberry, cherry and pink grapefruit mingled with spices and red blossoms. These aromatics usher in a medium- to full-bodied, rich and fleshy palate that is animated by succulent yet vibrant acidity and a sweet-toned core of fruit. The wine concludes with an enveloping, perfumed finish that lingers with considerable persistence. It currently exhibits less depth than the Louis Salmon of the same vintage, leading me to place greater confidence in the latter.
Description
Created in 1988 as a tribute to the House’s co-founder, the 2012 Cuvée Elisabeth Salmon is a prestigious vintage rosé of exceptional rarity and elegance. It presents a luminous salmon-pink hue with copper reflections and a fine, persistent bead. The nose is intense and multifaceted, opening with delicate notes of redcurrants, wild strawberries, and citrus zest, which evolve into complex layers of sweet spices, dried flower petals, and a hint of fresh brioche. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied and precise, showcasing a majestic balance between its rich red fruit core and a chalky, crystalline acidity. The texture is incredibly silky, leading to a long, mineral-driven finish with remarkable tension and persistence.
Food Pairing: Perfectly complements sophisticated dishes like pan-seared scallops, wild salmon with a berry reduction, roasted poultry with summer truffles, or a delicate lobster thermidor.
97 Points – James Suckling
This has a lovely copper color with aromas of cloves, spiced apples, raspberries, gingerbread and pastries. Delicious yeasty and spicy undertones. Excellent density and focus, with fine and firm bubbles, yet it’s light on its feet and so fresh. Long, chalky and salty at the end. Chardonnay and pinot noir. 3.8g/L dosage. Drink or hold.
95 Points – Wine Enthusiast
First produced in 1988 and made only in top years, this Champagne is named after the producer’s founder. With age (more than nine years on lees), it has developed a patina of toastiness and roundness. There is a toasty character that chimes with this fine wine’s crisp texture.
95 Points – Wine Spectator
Sleek and elegant, with a seamless knit, this is finely textured, with the raw silk–like mousse carrying flavors of peach skin, white cherry and toast point that show hints of white blossoms, pickled ginger and oyster shell through the lasting finish.
94 Points – Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
Disgorged in January 2023 with dosage of 3.8 grams per liter, Billecart’s 2012 Rosé Elisabeth Salmon is a dramatic, extroverted wine, soaring from the glass with a bouquet of raspberry, cherry and pink grapefruit mingled with spices and red blossoms. These aromatics usher in a medium- to full-bodied, rich and fleshy palate that is animated by succulent yet vibrant acidity and a sweet-toned core of fruit. The wine concludes with an enveloping, perfumed finish that lingers with considerable persistence. It currently exhibits less depth than the Louis Salmon of the same vintage, leading me to place greater confidence in the latter.
