AJ Ferrari
Wine Editor
An extraordinary wedding treat for the wedding party toast. Salon is one of the top vintage champagne available. At $250/bottle, it's worth every penny.
CHAMPAGNE SALON 1997
Champagne Salon produces only one wine: the cuvée S, a vintage blanc de blancs. Salon uses only grapes from severely pruned vines that are at least 40 years old and all of the fruit is picked and sorted by hand. Only the cuvée, or first pressing, is used for its wine. The cuvée is the lightest, purest and ripest juice that contains the highest amount of acid.
Aging took place in Salon’s chalk cellars for 10 years. The slow marriage of acidity and fruit that takes place over time gives Salon its signature elegance, finesse, balance and exceptional depth. The wine is pearlescent: a pale, lustrous gold with a fine, lively mousse. The nose is complex yet ethereal. Wonderfully refined, it is intriguing and enticing, its minerality complemented by hints of white fl owers, acacia and hawthorn. A salty note enhances aromas of bread crust, brioche and the merest hint of green apple and hazelnut.
The palate is quintessentially pure, the very epitome of balance and restraint. Exuberant on
entry, the mousse becomes more of a caress, while bubbles dance playfully on the palate.
Elegance, finesse, bright vitality, depth and power allied with a lightness of touch—it
is difficult to encapsulate so many complementary and contradictory elements coming
together in harmony. Refined, feminine and seductive, voluptuous and restrained, superbly
balanced, we can compare this vintage stylistically to the great 1988.
For more on Champagne Salon, visit salondelamotte.com
Exclusively imported to the US by Wilson Daniels Ltd. St. Helena, CA Tel 707 963 9661 wilsondaniels.com
TEXT FROM WILSON DANIELS / PHOTO SERGE CHAPUIS