The one-hectare Clos Saint-Hilaire meets the strictest guidelines: a single enclosed, contiguous parcel with complete winemaking facilities on site. The terroir's magic combined with the wine maker's skills make this wine exceptional. Made only from Pinot Noir vinified in casks, it develops an outstanding purity. Billecart-Salmon decided to add very little liqueur, or dosage, after disgorgement in order to let the typicality of the single grape used to make this great wine evolve.

The Clos Saint-Hilaire is a single parcel where the vines, soil and subsoil are carefully tended with respect for the environment. Several years ago, BILLECART-SALMON decided to return to ancestral champagne-making methods in the Clos Saint-Hilaire by using work horses. This method of maintaining the soil and tending the vines increases porosity and biodiversity: the roots grow deep and the minerals they draw from the soil foster the growth of smaller, more concentrated grapes, revealing the terroir's typical flavor.

TASTING NOTES

On the eye: The magic of the terroir, along with age-old skill, results in a sublime golden yellow hue, enhanced by intensely brilliant glints. The elegant effervescence of the finest bubbles is mellowed by the patina of meticulous ageing.

On the nose: Noble, pedigree expression, intensely sensual with the olfactory impact of great elegant winey complexity (malted cereals, freshly baked pastries, and tangerine flesh). The resonance of a sparkling concentration, showcasing a ripe and intense fruit (roasted coffee beans, toasted bread, vanilla pod and light tobacco).

On the palate: A full-bodied with subtle exotic notes of honeyed citrus zest (chocolate-coated orange peel, licorice stick, and cedarwood), on a bed of many-layered flavors (blueberry jelly, apricotin and lemon liqueur). The wine is borne upon a charm at once bewitching and expressive, in which its generosity carries the finish towards a deliciously mineral chalkiness.

PAIRING

This micro cuvée makes a glorious pairing with wild ikejime turbot with Burmese coffee or a delicate roasted porcini tartlet.

TECHNICAL INFORMATION

Varietals: 100% Pinot Noir

Appellation: Made exclusively from a unique parcel of old Pinot Noir vines from Mareuil-sur-Aÿ

Aging: 177 months in oak casks