Winemaker Notes
This unique Blanc de Noirs cuvée is named after the Patron Saint of Mareuil-sur Aÿ. This one-hectare Clos meets strict standards: a single enclosed, unbroken parcel, with its own complete wine-making facilities on site. This remarkably typical mono cru encapsulates an entire world in a great, profound and singular wine with wonderful ageing potential.
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Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Beautifully complex and mineral with notes of chalk, blanched almonds, dried raspberries, rose petals, pink grapefruit, nutmeg and pink peppercorns. Complex, tight and structured, with a medium to full body, plenty of strength yet elegant. Tight bubbles. Long, firm and savory. Single parcel pinot noir, 100% vinified in oak barrels. No malo. Disgorged May 2023. 3.8g/L dosage.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Disgorged in May 2023 with a dosage of two grams per liter, Billecart-Salmon’s 2007 Le Clos Saint-Hilaire continues to perform admirably. It unfurls in the glass with an expressive bouquet of pear, mirabelle plum and cherry, mingled with notes of lemon oil and a subtle accent of timut pepper. Medium- to full-bodied, elegantly muscular and vinous, the wine is both concentrated and ample, underpinned by incisive acidity. The palate culminates in a long, citrus-inflected finish that underscores the cuvée’s non-malolactic style. One should anticipate a profile more tightly knit than that of the warmer-vintage 2006 and 2009. As ever, it is sourced from a walled 0.97-hectare vineyard in Mareuil-sur-Aÿ that was planted in 1964, and it was vinified entirely in oak Rating :95+
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Decanter
2007 presents a rather different version of Le Clos St-Hilaire from the previous two releases (2006 and 2005). The hallmarks of the wine are very much there, with plenty of signs of maturity in the apricot kernel, chestnut honey and dark, tangy roasted apple fruit, with a welcome jolt of pink grapefruit-like acidity squeezing hard with some of the firmness and tension of the vintage. Despite this physical brightness, it is already in a nicely aligned spot to drink, with its autumnal ageing profile a little more present (at least in the bottle tasted) than was the case on release of the 2006 or 2005. Made with Pinot Noir from the family's historic walled garden in the village of Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, 100% vinified in oak and aged on lees for 14 years.
Representing the topmost expression of a Champagne house, a vintage Champagne is one made from the produce of a single, superior harvest year. Vintage Champagnes account for a mere 5% of total Champagne production and are produced about three times in a decade. Champagne is typically made as a blend of multiple years in order to preserve the house style; these will have non-vintage, or simply, NV on the label. The term, "vintage," as it applies to all wine, simply means a single harvest year.
Associated with luxury, celebration, and romance, the region, Champagne, is home to the world’s most prized sparkling wine. In order to bear the label, ‘Champagne’, a sparkling wine must originate from this northeastern region of France—called Champagne—and adhere to strict quality standards. Made up of the three towns Reims, Épernay, and Aÿ, it was here that the traditional method of sparkling wine production was both invented and perfected, birthing a winemaking technique as well as a flavor profile that is now emulated worldwide.
Well-drained, limestone and chalky soil defines much of the region, which lend a mineral component to its wines. Champagne’s cold, continental climate promotes ample acidity in its grapes but weather differences from year to year can create significant variation between vintages. While vintage Champagnes are produced in exceptional years, non-vintage cuvées are produced annually from a blend of several years in order to produce Champagnes that maintain a consistent house style.
With nearly negligible exceptions, . These can be blended together or bottled as individual varietal Champagnes, depending on the final style of wine desired. Chardonnay, the only white variety, contributes freshness, elegance, lively acidity and notes of citrus, orchard fruit and white flowers. Pinot Noir and its relative Pinot Meunier, provide the backbone to many blends, adding structure, body and supple red fruit flavors. Wines with a large proportion of Pinot Meunier will be ready to drink earlier, while Pinot Noir contributes to longevity. Whether it is white or rosé, most Champagne is made from a blend of red and white grapes—and uniquely, rosé is often produce by blending together red and white wine. A Champagne made exclusively from Chardonnay will be labeled as ‘blanc de blancs,’ while ones comprised of only red grapes are called ‘blanc de noirs.’