First Taste: Billecart-Salmon Nicolas François 2008

‘We are Champagne because of our terroir, yes…but also because of our patience’, explained Mathieu Roland-Billecart at the launch of the new 2008 vintage of Billecart-Salmon’s prestige cuvée, Nicolas François. ‘I worry for the reputation of the region when people forget that.’

The family-owned Champagne house has been pushing back against a tide of younger and younger releases in Champagne by guaranteeing at least three years of ageing for its non-vintage brut, and only now releasing, 15 years on, what is perhaps the very last of the headline 2008 Champagnes.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for four vintages of Cuvée Nicolas François

The 2008 vintage has a towering reputation in Champagne, although many of the wines are still fairly austere. Indeed, Roland-Billecart describes 2008 as a ‘mineral and lean’ expression of Nicolas François.

For Roland-Billecart, it was key to hold back this vintage until now: ‘I think we learnt from what happened in 1996. It’s very important that the wine gets enough body and enough expression before it is released. If you cheat with time, you’ll end up with wines that will never grow into something,’ he says.

Despite the house’s location in Mareuil-sur-Ay, in the Marne Valley where Pinot Meunier grapes flourish, Billecart-Salmon’s prestige releases continue to reflect a focus on grand cru Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. ‘Some of the work we’ve done with the micro-cuvée Les Rendez-Vous is showing us that Meunier’s ageing potential is a lot stronger than we thought. But can it go 30 years? That is the question. So we’re still seeking only Pinot Noir for the black grapes.’

In order to find the perfect blend, a tasting committee – made up of both family members and staff – tastes six potential blends blind, searching for the one that ‘represents what we want in terms of finesse, elegance, balance and expression of the vintage,’ says Roland-Billecart.

2008 has produced a string of long-lived, tense wines of sometimes dazzling vibrancy and tension. Few, though, have offered maximum drinking pleasure upon release and, despite the extra time in the cellars, the Nicolas François 2008 is no different. Its stylistic singularity was clear as we tasted the 2002, 1998 and 1986 beside it; 2008 is a vintage in which Nicolas François puts on a steely, long-distance gaze. The quality is evident, but buyers will benefit from more than a dash of Champenois patience themselves.

The Billecart-Salmon Cuvée Nicolas François 2008 is available in the UK at £180 per 75cl bottle and in the US at $230 per 75cl bottle.

Four vintages of Cuvée Nicolas François:

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