2008 Billecart Salmon Cuvée Nicolas François - 6x75cl
19A8BSNF6PK _ 2008 - Billecart Salmon Cuvée Nicolas François - 6x75cl
  • Colour Champagne_Sparkling
  • Producer Billecart-Salmon
  • Region Champagne
  • Drinking 2023 - 2050
  • Case size 6x75cl
  • Available Now

2008 - Billecart Salmon Cuvée Nicolas François - 6x75cl

  • Colour Champagne Sparkling
  • Producer Billecart-Salmon
  • Region Champagne
  • Drinking 2023 - 2050
  • Case size 6x75cl
  • Available Now
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Pricing Info
Case price: £859.24 Duty Paid inc VAT
Equivalent Bottle Price: £143.20 Duty Paid inc VAT
Case price: £700.00 In Bond
Please note: This wine is available for immediate delivery.
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Pricing

  • IN BOND prices exclude UK Duty and VAT. Wines can be purchased In Bond for storage in Private Reserves or another bonded warehouse, or for export to non-EU countries. Duty and VAT must be paid before delivery can take place.

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Additional Information

  • Duty Paid wines have been removed from Bond and cannot subsequently be returned to Bond.  VAT is payable on Duty Paid wines. These wines must remain Duty Paid but can be purchased as such for storage subject to VAT.

  • En Primeur wines can only be purchased In Bond. On arrival in the UK these wines can either be stored In Bond in Private Reserves or another bonded warehouse or delivered directly to you. When you decide to take delivery, Duty and VAT at the prevailing rate become payable.

  • Wine Advocate, April 2023, Score: 96

    The 2008 Brut Cuvée Nicolas François was disgorged during the third quarter of 2022 with less than three grams per liter. It has a delicate, pure, clean bouquet with aromas of orchard fruits, spring flowers, honey and licorice, with hints of brioche and pastry with aeration. Medium to full-bodied, chiseled and crystalline, with racy acids and a chalky texture, the palate is tense and the finish is long, penetrating and salty. It exhibits perfect Billecart style, yet tension is present, a sign of the vintage. It is a blend of 60% Pinot Noir (sourced from Aÿ, Mareuil and Verzenay) and 40% Chardonnay from Mesnil, Chouilly and Cramant, and it matured 83% in tanks and 17% in old oak barrels. Drink 2023-2050.

  • Matthew Jukes, April 2023, Score: 20+

    The facts – 08NF was made from 83% Grands Crus and 17% de Premiers Crus: 60% Pinot Noir from the Premiers and Grands Crus of the Montagne de Reims and the Grande Vallée de la Marne (Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, Aÿ, Ambonnay, Bouzy, Verzenay et Verzy); 40% Chardonnay from the Côte des Blancs (Mesnil, Chouilly, Cramant, Vertus); 17% of the wines were vinified in oak barrels, and it was aged on its lees for 150 months; The dosage is 2.9 g/l, and it was disgorged in January 2022. This super-deep wine dwells low in the glass with weight and depth of delivery that is completely unhurried. Vinous, powerful and with a full spectrum of fruit and patisserie, it is remarkable just how little citrus and herb there is on the front end of this staggeringly impressive wine. It is more layered and exotic than any current release Champagne I can think of, and then when it seems as though the scene is set, everything changes instantly. The palate drops about three gears revealing arresting zestiness and tanginess that completely engulfs the senses. I learned that this cuvée’s release was delayed by nearly two years because the back end was so twitchy, nervy and excitable. As it turns out, the Billecart gurus made the right call here – this is an electrifying wine, and the finish shows that the potential here is incredible. I am lucky enough to have tasted the 1959 and the 1961 Billecart-Salmon vintage wines, among others, and the DNA and detail in this 2008 are near-identical. While the top half of this wine is showy, flamboyant and seductive, the lower half is firm, chiselled, rigid and breath-taking. Drink now until 2050.

Producer

Billecart-Salmon

The Champagne House Billecart Salmon was founded in 1818 when Nicolas François Billecart and Elisabeth Salmon were married. The House has remained within the family and is now run by the seventh generation of descendants. They maintain the legend of this "spirit of Champagne." The passion of the grape cultivated as a philosophy around three principal values "finesse, balance and elegance."

Region

Champagne

Champagne, the world's greatest sparkling wine, needs little introduction - with imitations produced in virtually every country capable of growing grapes, including such unlikely candidates as India and China. The Champagne region, to the north of Paris, has the most northerly vineyards in France, with vines grown on slopes with a southerly exposure to maximise sunlight. The soil is chalky, providing an excellent balance of drainage and water retention. The key to the wine is in the cellar - the bubbles result from a second fermentation in the bottle and the rich toasty flavours in great Champagne come from extended bottle ageing on the yeasty lees. Until the eighteenth century, the wines produced in the Champagne area were light acidic white wines, with no hint of sparkle. However glass and closure technology developed at that time and it was not long before Dom Perignon, a Benedictine monk at the Abbey of Hautvilliers, started experimenting with blends and produced the first recognisable champagne. In a world accustomed to still wines, the advent of champagne was almost a flop. It was saved when it became fashionable at the French court as a result of Louis XV's mistress Madame de Pompadour commenting "Champagne is the only wine that lets a woman remain beautiful after she has drunk it." And the rest is history, with famous (or infamous) champagne lovers including Casanova, Dumas, Wagner, Winston Churchill, James Bond and Coco Chanel.

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