Cuvèe S Le Mesnil 2006

The wine in this vintage

After a torrid July and a cool, rainy August, 2006 ended with a luminous September that brought rich, healthy grapes to ripeness. Thanks to its chalky soil, Le Mesnil Chardonnay kept remarkable tension. Salon Cuvée S Le Mesnil 2006 combines generosity and rigour: ripe citrus, white peach, acacia blossom, hazelnut and pastry notes, on a broad yet precise palate supported by vibrant acidity and a mineral finish. Wine Enthusiast awarded it 100 points. It is already very expressive today and can be kept for several more years, gaining further layers of complexity in the cellar.

The producer · Salon

Salon is perhaps the rarest and most legendary Champagne in existence. It was created in the early twentieth century by Eugène-Aimé Salon, a Parisian furrier with roots in Champagne, who wanted a wine for himself and his friends alone: a pure Blanc de Blancs from a single village and a single year. The first vintage was 1905, and the house began selling it in the 1920s, when it soon became the house Champagne at Maxim’s in Paris. Since 1989 Salon has belonged to the Laurent-Perrier group, alongside its sister house Delamotte. The philosophy has never changed: one cru, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger in the Côte des Blancs; one grape, Chardonnay; one vintage, declared only when quality is exceptional, so that over more than a century only a few dozen vintages have been made. The grapes come from the small estate vineyard, the Jardin de Salon, and from selected parcels in the village. Without malolactic fermentation and after long ageing in the cellars, Salon is born taut and almost austere, revealing with time unrivalled complexity and depth.

Critics' scores

• 100 Wine Enthusiast
• 95 Wine Spectator
• 18/20 Jancis Robinson

Technical details

Producer

Salon

Region

Champagne

Country

Francia

Type

Bollicine

Vintage

2006

When to drink

Hold, still evolving

Critics' average

97.5/100

Sizes

75 cl, Magnum 150 cl, Case of 6 × 75 cl

eWibe code

0750106