Billecart Salmon

Today the company is still independent and, run by the seventh generation, Mathieu Roland-Billecart, it specialises in selling to independent merchants and fine dining establishments. Grapes are sourced from their own 100 ha of vineyards and bought in from a further 200 ha, mainly situated within 20 kilometres of Epernay, and covering over 40 grands crus. Their top vineyard is the Clos Saint-Hilaire, now returned to ancestral methods using sheep to keep the weeds down and horses to work the soil whilst producing only about 4,000 bottles a year. The wines are made using cold settling followed by fermentation in stainless steel or oak. Stainless steel has been used since the 1950s. Tanks are typically relatively small allowing for each cru and grape variety to be vinified separately, which allows for the purity of fruit and the individual expression of each terroir to come through. There are two chais for oak, both fairly new, one holding 400 casks and the other with 24 foudres, made from carefully selected timber. The wines are then matured in classic chalk cellars dating from the 17th and 18th centuries, four years for the non-vintage wines and ten years for vintage. The results are wines of finesse, balance and elegance with the flagship wine being the renowned Brut Rosé.