Billecart Salmon Clos St Hilaire 2009 (750ML)

98 Points, Antonio Galloni, Vinous: "The 2009 Extra Brut Le Clos Saint-Hilaire is stellar. I can’t remember a young Clos Saint-Hilaire with this much sheer immediacy. Then again, we are talking about 2009. Blood orange, spice, gingerbread and new leather play off a core of vibrant, red-toned Pinot fruit. Blocking the malolactic fermentation further emphasizes energy. The 2009 finishes with mind-blowing purity and exceptional finesse. This is the first vintage with some of the production bottled in magnum. The essence of Pinot. Dosage is 2 grams per liter. Disgorged: January 2024. (Drink between 2027-2044)" 04/25

96 Points, Kristaps Karklins, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate: "Billecart-Salmon’s 2009 Le Clos Saint-Hilaire, disgorged in January 2024 with a dosage of two grams per liter, is showing even more impressively than it did when I tasted it with only a year on cork after disgorgement. The bouquet is deep and expressive, revealing notes of dried apricot, pear, blanched almond and orange oil, mingled with cherry plum and a touch of Madagascar vanilla. On the palate, it is medium- to full-bodied and rich yet incisive, its amplitude deftly counterbalanced by racy acidity before culminating in a persistent, citrus-tinged finish that underscores the wine’s fresh, tight-knit profile—enhance by its non-malolactic style." 02/26

98 Points, James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com: "This Champagne is wonderfully rich on the nose, seducing with aromas of delicious yellow nectarines, sourdough, applesauce, white flowers and raspberries, alongside toast, tobacco and a hint of white truffles. It’s layered and generous with very fine, very soft bubbles. Already approachable, yet with subtle power and bright acidity to age for a long time. Fantastic length. Pinot noir from an enclosed, 1-hectare parcel of vines in Mareuil-sur-Ay planted in 1964. No malolactic. Over 13 years on the lees. 2 g/L dosage. Drink or hold." 03/25

96 Points, Tom Hewson, Decanter: "Billecart-Salmon's sheltered walled garden of Pinot Noir in Mareuil-sur-Aÿ has really come into its own in 2009, yielding a wine with all the intensity and volume that this cuvée tends to carry, but held in a more juicy, less firmly drawn structure than the preceding vintages. Indeed the soft generosity of 2009 seems to play to this wine's strengths. The end result is the most approachable and downright enjoyable Clos St-Hilaire of recent times, effortlessly carrying all its fruit of fresh fig, dried pear, roasted red plum and apricot kernel with heady baklava notes and darker, complex aromas of sweet walnut and cocoa. There's a very welcome shot of bright, malic acidity which which pulls this expansive, warm-hearted Champagne into focus beautifully. (Drink between 2025-2035)" 01/25

96 Points, Audrey Frick, JebDunnuck.com: "The 2009 Champagne Le Clos Saint Hillaire pours a copper/straw color with depth and offers notes of red fruit, bitter almond, toasted nuttiness, toasty black cherry, Dr. Pepper, orange, grapefruit, brothy umami, mushrooms, and tobacco. Full-bodied, it's savory and mouthwatering, with a chalky, pithy texture that is chiseled and ripe, with a spicy mousse. A rich vintage but very well balanced, it has outstanding length and persistence on the palate with good focus that keeps it dialed in. A contemplative and cigar-type wine with a long sensation, drink it over the coming 20 years. One hundred percent barrel-fermented, they only bottle when the result of the vin clair is good; they choose to bottle or not to bottle the wine based on selection and the prise de mousse. Disgorged in January 2024 with 2 grams per liter dosage. They are holding back their 2008, which they plan to release, but this vintage will come first.The Billecart-Salmon wines in this report were tasted with Cellar Master Florent Nys at the estate in Maureuil-sur-Aÿ. Alongside Mathieu Roland-Billecart, who assumed the position of CEO at this estate in 2019 and represents the seventh generation in his family, they are making notable and steady-handed improvements that are starting to shine. A full conversion to organic viticulture has been completed in the monopole vineyard of Clos Saint-Hillaire, with an emphasis on taking things even further in terms of biodiversity and experimentation with biodynamics. They have also taken steps toward further transparency regarding dosage, but recognizing that dosage is only part of the story, they have been including the total residual sugar of the wine in addition to what was added after disgorgement. They source from approximately 300 hectares of vines, a third of which they own, and those 100 hectares have also been certified organic as of 2024. French and Stockinger barrels with medium toast are purchased new and seasoned in-house for three to five years before use. About 80% of production is fermented and aged in stainless steel tanks. Only the finest plots are fermented in barrels at cold temperatures before being transferred to stainless steel tanks for aging, a process that typically takes no more than six months. For this year’s release of Le Rendez-Vous, the estate has offered two expressions of 100% Meunier with No. 7 and No. 8. Both wines highlight the same vintage of 2018 but the expression of two different terroirs. No. 7 comes from Venteuil on the right bank of Vallée de la Marne, soils rich in clay and the rest chalk, with south exposition there. The No. 8 is from the left bank of the Valle de la Marne in Leuvrigny, where the soil is chalk with an east exposure, meaning it is fresher by comparison. Disgorged the same day, the two wines were aged for 63 months on the lees. In the cellar, they blocked malolactic fermentation in No. 7 due to its already rich character after alcoholic fermentation, but allowed it in No. 8, as it was fresher and more vertical in character. (Drink between 2025-2045)" 12/25