Salon Cuvee 'S' Le Mesnil Blanc de Blancs Brut Champagne, France, 2012

Vault Wine: This wine is stored in our vault.

We ask customers to purchase only 1 bottle of Salon per year - as supplies are limited. We have one of the best prices on line.

If you wish to order more - we ask you to purchase ANY Delamotte Champagne to support the order - six bottles for every additional bottle of Salon.  We have great prices to support this program and Delamotte is a great daily while your Salon increases in value in your cellar.  BRUT, BdB or VINTAGE 

Overview of the Wine
Salon honors the memory of its founder, a century on. In the 1910s, Eugène-Aimé Salon had a vision, a dream: to create a Champagne for all time, from a single grape variety, Chardonnay, laid bare in all its subtlety; from a single great terroir, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger; and from a single superlative year, the vintage.

A stand-alone defined by its singularity; subtle and complex, the world’s ultimate champagne. Champagne Salon is the absolute embodiment of this quest for perfection. It contains within it the poignant beauty of nature, reflecting its long, slow toil in the silence of the cellar. This is where that astonishing backdrop of savory minerals emerged, that sensation of chalk in the mouth: an immediate hit, building slowly, gradually, ultimately all-enveloping. It was here that this virile wine took form, exceeding all expectations; here that its beautiful minerality was forged, heralding a wine with limitless aging potential. In achieving perfect balance, nature’s work is complete. 

The name Le Mesnil resonates in a special way with lovers of great wine. Nestled in the heart of the Côte des Blancs, 100% Chardonnay and 100% Grand Cru, this is the king of Champagne vineyards. It is here that the most profound expression of Chardonnay’s delicate freshness truly comes to the fore, where magnanimous nature offers a wine that is purity itself. This Champagne is produced from a 2.5-acre parcel owned by Salon (“Salon’s Garden”) and from 19 other smaller parcels in Mesnil-sur-Oger, chosen by Aimé Salon at the beginning of the 20th century.

Grape / Blend
Chardonnay

Origin
Le Mesnil, Champagne, France

Winemaker's Tasting Notes 
The desire for perfection created in the infinite facets of a yellow diamond, the exquisite surprise of a tasting that takes your breath away: the pale gold of a wine held up to the light, the subtle glint of green heralding minerals, stone, chalk – so symbolic of Salon – together with wafts of fruit, dried roses in abundance, never-ending flavors that go on and on. Its freshness and slender form, precise, aristocratic acidity promising decades of glorious aging ahead, founded upon an impeccable structure. Allowed to breathe momentarily, Salon 2012 unleashes its seductive powers on the palate, with notes of pineapple, lychee, a touch of smoke; caressing with a knowing smile as beguiling and mysterious as the Mona Lisa, Salon does not reveal every secret. An alliance of glorious opponents: all is fair in love and war for the love of Salon 2012. For those in the know, the connoisseurs of today and tomorrow. Savor the flash of a smile, like a flame as it catches fire.

98 Points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Back in 2014, Salon's president Didier Depond was quoted in the press as saying that “since 2008, there has been no genuinely great vintage in Champagne" and that a 2012 from Salon wouldn't be released. But the just-released 2012 Brut Blanc de Blancs Le Mesnil shows that he had good reason to change his mind, as to my palate this is, after the 2008, the finest Salon produced this millennium. Unwinding in the glass with notes of citrus oil, wet stones, freshly baked bread, white currants and oyster shell, it's full-bodied, deep and concentrated, with a tightly wound core of fruit, racy acids and an elegant pinpoint mousse. Concluding with a long and resonant finish, this is a structured and powerful Salon that's a lot more incisive than, for example, the 2002 at the same stage, but which also carries more muscle and substance than a leaner vintage such as 2007. For readers that have balked at the pricing of the magnum-only 2008, the 2012 isn't far off the latter's level in quality, and will presumably be distributed more conventionally.

99 Points - Decanter 

98 Points - James Suckling
This starts off tightly knit, but opens up to aromas of chalk, biscuit, lemon pith and jasmine, then turning to apricot, tangerine peel, pastries and chamomile. Dried apple and hints of mint, dried spice and juniper, too. It’s layered and refined with wonderful complexity. Well-integrated mousse and acidity here, making it so approachable already. Evolves and builds. Drink or hold.

95 Points - Wine Spectator 
Like white Burgundy with bubbles, this fine-knit version has a spine of vibrant acidity and a minerally oyster shell overtone, with the plush mousse carrying a delicate mesh of yellow plum, pickled ginger, Marcona almond and dried white cherry flavors that lingers on the racy finish.

Product size: 750mL