Wine Advisor
Billecart Salmon, Cuvee Nicolas Francois Billecart Millesime 2002
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted at the CIVC tasting in London. This is a superb champagne from Billecart. It has a vibrant, animated bouquet evoking Alpine stream, white peaches and touches of apricot blossom intermingling with crushed stone. The palate has superb tension and poise, leading to a Burgundy-like finish with limestone and crisp Granny Smith apples. Just gorgeous. Tasted March 2010.
Reviewed by: William Kelley
The 2002 Brut Cuvée Nicolas François was disgorged in January 2015 with four grams per liter dosage, and it's showing superbly, wafting from the glass with a complex bouquet that mingles confit citrus, peach and dried papaya with nuances of iodine, brioche and honeycomb. On the palate, it's full-bodied, broad and vinous, with a rich and layered core that's underpinned by serious structure and tension, concluding with a long and precise finish. This is one of the finest wines Billecart has released in the last decade, and it is well worth seeking out.
Reviewed by: Stephan Reinhardt
Disgorged in April 2016, after 13 years on the lees in bottle, Billecart-Salmon's recent release of the 2002 Millésime Brut Cuvée Nicolas François is an amazing wine for lovers of matured, pure and spicy Champagnes. This is a blend of 60% Pinot Noir (from premier and grand crus of the Montagne de Reims and the Grande Vallée de la Marne) and 40% Chardonnay (from the Côte des Blancs), with 20% vinified in oak barrels. It opens with a deep, rich, intense, pure and chalky bouquet with ripe, yellow-fleshed stone fruits, citrus fruits and beautiful bottle maturity. This is quite mature compared to the 2002 Clos Saint-Hilaire, and this might be due to the cork, which came out of the bottle neck far too easily. This 2002 is rich but more vinous now than the bright and highly delicate 2006. The palate is pretty intense, dense and viscous, while the finish is refined and pure, with vibrant freshness and gastronomic grip. It is slightly drying, though. This is a very complex, round and intense 2002 with very fine bubbles. It should be served with poultry or turbot in a creamy sauce, as recommended by Billecart's chef de cave, Florent Nys. Tasted from lot L112A675 44251 in November 2018. There might be even better, fresher bottles than this.
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
The 2002 Cuvée Nicolas François Billecart is outrageously beautiful. The ripeness of the Chardonnay is front and center in a Champagne that delivers the goods, big-time. An infusion of apricot, orange peel, crème brûlée, chamomile, hazelnut and honey give the 2002 its racy, exotic personality. I enjoy it most with bottle age, but the 2002 is undeniably beautiful right now. The 2002 is a stunning NFB. The blend is 60% Pinot Noir from the Montagne de Reims and the Vallée de la Marne and 40% Chardonnay from the Côte des Blancs, done partially in oak (20%). Dosage is 4 grams per liter.
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
The 2002 Cuvée Nicolas François Billecart comes across as rich, powerful and opulent. This latest release of the 2002 was disgorged in July 2015 and finished with a Chardonnay-based liqueur whereas the previous release, disgorged in May 2014, was finished with a Pinot Noir-based liqueur. This is a distinctly vinous, almost shockingly raw, visceral Champagne from Billecart-Salmon. There is no shortage of volume or intensity, that is for sure. Stylistically, this year's release inhabits a whole other world relative to last year's release. Dosage is 4 grams per liter.
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
A mesmerizing, thrilling Champagne, the 2002 Cuvée Nicolas François Billecart is a great example of the vintage at its best. Silky and racy on the palate, yet a bit more restrained than many wines of the year, the Nicolas François Billecart remains vivid and remarkably nuanced. Brioche. apricot jam, wild flowers and honey are some of the many notes that blossom as the Cuvée Nicolas François Billecart shows off its voluptuous personality. The 2002 is 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay.
About the Producer
Founded by Nicolas François Billecart and Elisabeth Salmon in 1818, Billecart-Salmon is one of the few Champagne houses to be owned and managed by the original family. Today, François and Antoine Roland-Billecart continue the family legend, hand-crafting delicate and elegant wines with crystal-clear fidelity, using a technique of cool long fermentation pioneered by the house in 1952. All of the base wines go through a cold settling at 8℃ and a very cold fermentation just under 13℃ that takes between three weeks and a month, which is a longer time frame than other producers. This practice was initiated in 1958, making Billecart-Salmon the first and the only Champagne house to do so at present. One of the highlights of the house is the cuvée created as a tribute to the house’s founders. The Cuvée Nicolas François Billecart is generous, fine and rich, sourced exclusively from the grands crus of Côte des Blancs and Montagne de Reims.
