Maybe it’s the presence of the name “Salmon” right there on the label, but perhaps no Champagne house has been as synonymous with great rosé than Billecart-Salmon. The mere sight of this distinctive bottle, from this historic house, sets off a Pavlovian salivary response among Champagne geeks such as myself.
This is a wine you simply must know if you do what I do. In years past, Billecart’s Rosé had more of a “best-kept-secret” reputation and a price to match, but in more recent times it has become one of the most highly sought-after Champagnes on the market. We recently snatched up a small parcel to share with our customers, and I can’t think of many surer bets—whether for laying down or drinking tonight—than this bottle.
In the glass, the Billecart-Salmon Rosé NV Brut is, yes, salmon-pink, although I like ‘onion-skin’ as a color descriptor, too. The nose is a floral, lifted mélange of wild strawberry, dried cherry, red currant, dried orange peel, baking spices, dried rose petals, and crushed stones. It is crisp and invigorating on the palate and always exceptionally aromatic and long on the finish—just a perfectly realized glass of wine in every way. There’s plenty of smoky savor for pairing it with food, and once again salmon leaps to mind: Food-and-wine pairings don’t get any more classic than this rosé—served, as I always stress, in a white-wine glass and not too cold—with some salmon rillettes on toast points. That’s a level of simple sophistication I’m quite confident you can pull off with ease. Cheers!