1996 Billecart-Salmon Champagne Le Clos Saint-Hilaire

Community Tasting Notes (72) Avg Score: 94.0 points

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  5/4/2024 - Elvis1969 Likes this wine: 93 Points

  Mogen doft, honung på näsan, skönt söt beska, polkagris, choklad lång eftersmak.

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  5/1/2024 - Juliansi Likes this wine: 93 Points

  Right after everyone was surprised that my bubbles aperitif was a Blanc de Noir.. this showed up!
  
  Bottle 2,920 of 6,500 ever produced. When most large makers are doing 1 to 2 million bottles of their NV bubbles, this makes the BS CSH very rare indeed.
  
  This iconic Clos St-Hilaire from Billecart Salmon is an old-vine, single vineyard Blanc de Noirs or 100% Pinot Noir. 1996 is a well regarded and phenomenal vintage. Whilst delicate, there is such great balance and depth in this champagne especially with the honey and white pear notes.
  
  Complex nose which was somewhat fleeting at times, bursting out with florality then slightly closed. I did get hints of mature red apple which to me is a tell-tale of this being Pinot dominant, or even all Pinot!
  
  Minerals and flowers appear after you give this some time to evolve, there is a light textured mouthfeel with the finest of bubbles. Drink up, I feel that this is towards the back-end of its best drinking plateau.
  
  The appearance is between clear gold and caramel-like deep gold, with a fine mousse that quickly dissipates. There is still a light tickle of fine bubbles on the palate.
  
  Some element of oxidisation is clearly there, as are the yeast type brioche notes which seem to grow increasingly complex.
  
  Very interestingly, a 2009 Robert Parker review describes:
  Billecart-Salmon’s 1996 Le Clos Saint-Hilaire has lost some of its youthful exuberance and the fruit now is a touch softer than it was a few years ago. The aromatics and overall balance remain seductive and utterly compelling.
  
  The Clos Saint-Hilaire is the most delicate, ethereal of the three, and this old-vine, single-vineyard Blanc de Noirs, is another of the more accessible 1996s.
  
  I also loved this HK review from Finewineexperience.com, which describes the vintage really well.
  
  I recall that when good 1996s began appearing on the market in the early 2000s, there was a lot of excitement for this vintage.
  
  Richard Juhlin exclaimed in 2002 that 1996 was ‘Probably one of the great vintages of all time. Such acidity, allied to such high alcohol potential, had not been seen since 1928, which should guarantee an unusual longevity.’
  
  1996 Champagnes reminded me a bit of Germany’s much-prized Eiswein style Rieslings .. What you get is a luminous, vibrant, crystal clear but super concentrated expression of Riesling and place, as all the water-ice is left in the wine press, and only the essence is vinified.
  
  Summer had been mostly warm to hot, while critically the northerly winds blew (concentrating the sugars, but also the acidity), and September nights were cold, further ensuring acids didn’t drop too far.
  
  Champagne writer Peter Liem describes the result, 1996 ‘was essentially unique—nobody had ever seen a vintage with the same combination of high ripeness and high acidity. Producers were thrilled with the extraordinary phenomenon of “10/10” (10 degrees of potential alcohol and 10 g./l. of acidity), which involved sugar levels comparable to those of 1989 and 1990 but also acidity levels of vintages such as 1986 or 1980.’
  
  The north wind concentrated the acidity, the flavors, the sugars in the berries. But the pitfall of ’96 was that it concentrated the oxidative compounds in the bad grapes, and these have evolved very rapidly.
  
  This is why some wines are not yet ready to drink, while others are already over the hill. This is also why there are not many rosés from ’96, because of this oxidation in the pinot noir.
  
  Thanks for your immense generosity, brother LMC. What a massive bottle to kick-start our evening celebrating RN's birthday and a belated repeat get-together for DQ's as well. Wonderful dinner over 5 hours at Stoked.
  
  Stoked, KL, Malaysia
  1st May 2024

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  12/31/2023 - jshufelt wrote: 93 Points

  On the nose, fresh cut apples and sherry. In the glass, somewhere between clear gold and caramel, with mousse that disappears almost immediately in the glass, and very little in the way of bubbles, although the carbonation remains. On the palate, an interesting hybrid of citrus, green apple, and madeira - no question this is on the downward side of its aging curve, but it's interesting to capture the champagne at this stage, while there is still that last bit of life and energy. Time to drink up. Happy New Year!

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  12/3/2023 - hargy Likes this wine: 91 Points

  this was a dark yellow verging on oxidised on opening so fully mature, if not in decline - the mousse is all but gone with very gentle bubbles - still quite delicious with the breadiness in check

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  8/6/2023 - Benoit Hardy Likes this wine: 95 Points

  Massive nose, vinous, brioche with a touch of apricot.
  
  Mouth of great maturity, with a frank attack with an extremely dense juice carried by a lively and integrated acidity. The wine is spicy, with roasted aromas, it is a perfect table companion because it responds perfectly to the dish. Aeration was beneficial to give it all its amplitude and structure with a second part on black fruits and an oxidative touch. Everything is perfectly integrated in this wine which loosens up intensely. Majestic finish on spices, on an important length.
  
  Excellent, but to drink at the table to appreciate all its facets.

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