A legend because…
This was the wine that triumphed in a blind tasting of 150 vintage Champagnes organized in 1999 by an expert team led by Richard Juhlin from Sweden. It won first place as ‘Champagne of the Millennium’, and second place was, remarkably, taken by the 1961 vintage. François Roland-Billecart was reluctant to submit any of the house’s cuvées, but his brother Antoine went behind his back and entered both the triumphant wines.
This cuvée is dominated by Pinot Noir, but in more recent years a scarcer wine has taken its place alongside it – Le Clos St-Hilaire, produced solely from 1ha of Pinot Noir grapes planted in the former park of the mansion at Mareuil-Sur-Aÿ. Vinified in casks, it is aged on the yeasts for 14 years before being bottled with a low dosage. Rare and costly, it shows that the Billecart family doesn’t rest on its laurels.
Looking back
This story is from the January 2021 edition of Decanter.
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This story is from the January 2021 edition of Decanter.
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