Of the many options, Champagne has arguably become synonymous with sparkling wine. To those that admire a tall glass of shimmering bubbly, certain champagne houses have garnered immense amounts of popularity, even if the average wine drinker might not identify the bottles by sight.

Billecart-Salmon has become one such a champagne house that enjoys this celebrity status. It has long become a name synonymous with luxury and refinement since its founding days in 1818. From the long-lasting family ties to their exquisite rosé offerings, Billecart-Salmon continues to delight with its champagnes, pushing boundaries with techniques not commonly found in other houses.

So let's get bubbling with 7 things you should know about Billecart-Salmon Champagne! 

1. Billecart-Salmon is one of the few Champagne houses that remain family owned.

Founders Nicolas François Billecart and Elisabeth Salmon.

In a rapidly-advancing world where more and more producers are being assimilated into the ranks of global beverage giants, Billecart-Salmon is one of those rare houses that has kept it within the family.

Housed in Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, France, it was founded in 1818 upon the marriage of one Nicolas François Billecart and Elisabeth Salmon. The story goes that Elisabeth's brother Louis Salmon was a passionate oenologist (the study of winemaking), and was the first to try creating their own product.

Passing the secrets of viticulture and champagne making from generation to generation, the family is the majority shareholder of the house despite other parties owning some of it. The current President is seventh-generation family member Mathieu Roland Billecart, with production averaging 1.7 million bottles per year.

2. One of Billecart-Salmon's most recognised products, their Champagne Rosé, has an unusually high amount of Chardonnay.

Of the many champagnes that Billecart-Salmon is renowned for, it is the Billecart-Salmon Rosé that is one of the most popular premium Rosé out there.

However, sixth-generation scion Antoine Roland-Billecart might correct you if you called their Rosé a "Rosé Champagne". Rather, he would reccommend you call it a "Champagne Rosé", as "if you were blind tasting it, you wouldn’t guess it was a Rosé"!

The typical ratios of grapes blended to make Champagne Rosé can vary across winemakers. On average, however, most Champagne Rosé tends to be a blend of 5% and 15% red wine grapes (often Pinot Noir or Pinot Meunier, adding color, flavor, and structure to the final product), and 85 - 95% of white wine grapes (such as Chardonnay and Pinot Blanc, which provide the base for the sparkling wine).

However, Billecart-Salmon instead uses 30 percent Pinot Meunier in the blend with almost 50 percent Chardonnay. The house believes in doing something different, skewing away from the popular opinion that to change up Rosé would mean just adding Pinot Noir.

3. They have a love-hate relationship with Pinot Meunier.

First, let's talk about the grape. Pinot Meunier is a variety of red wine grape that is often one of the three main varieties used to make Champagne. Historically, it was never a popular choice until more recent times. Now, the grape takes up around one-third of all the grapes planted in Champagne.

However, some Champagne houses that use Pinot Meunier in their cuvées still don't quite highlight its role, instead preferring to emphasise their Pinot Noir or even Chardonnay. On the other hand, Billecart-Salmon tends to highlights this variety in many of their champagnes, especially in their Brut Reserve with 45 per cent.

4. Billecart-Salmon uses ancestral champagne-making methods by using work horses and sheep.

(Image Source: Billecart-Salmon) 

Yep, you heard that right. Billecart Salmon is known for using work horses and sheep in its vineyards. More specifically, on the one-hectare patch called the Le Clos Saint-Hilaire, which only grows Pinot Noir vines.

An ancestral champagne-making method, the animals' activities are said to increase the porosity and biodiversity of the soil. With this change, the vines' roots grow to greater depths. Compounded by an increased amount of minerals that can be potentially absorbed by the vines, the animals indirectly foster the growth of smaller, more concentrated grapes which in turn concentrate the flavor of the local terroir.

5. The champagne is made with methods adopted from beer brewing: cold settling and cold fermentation.

Billecart-Salmon doesn't just make good champagne, it's also something of an innovator in the wine world.

In 1958, then-chairman Jean Roland-Billecart was inspired by techniques used by beer brewers. To that end, he developed the methods of cold settling and cold fermentation. The processes are a first among Champagne makers and can take place over three weeks to a month.

The cold settling technique employs stainless steel tanks where the pressed juice is allowed to settle at 8ºC for about 12 hours. The must is then racked into another set of clean tanks and chilled for another 48 hours at an even lower temperature of 2ºC. The must then undergoes a cold, slow fermentation at just under 13ºC. 

What this strenuous, near-freezing process does is cause the larger particles, such as yeast cells, tartrates, and other impurities, to precipitate out of the liquid. The result is a wine that has a higher clarity, stability, and smoother mouthfeel, not to mention more clarity and purity of the wine's flavors.

6. The vineyard once housed the family's tennis courts. 

As mentioned earlier, Billecart-Salmon has a hallowed hectare of Pinot Noir that contributes in the production of some of the house's best champagnes, including its rarest cuvée (More on this in the next point!).

This patch at some point in time was a vegetable garden and even a greenhouse. Oddly enough, the land was for a period of time used as a tennis court by the Billecart family. However, in the 1970s, they decided to convert the tennis court into a vineyard. This decision was driven by a desire to preserve the family's heritage and further produce exceptional wines.

The transformation involved careful soil preparation, planting high-quality vines, and implementing the aforementioned sustainable farming practices.

7. One of their champagnes is named after a saint.

The Billecart-Salmon 'Le Clos Saint Hilaire' Blanc de Noirs Brut 

The rare cuvée mentioned earlier from the patch of Pinot Noir is the Billecart-Salmon 'Le Clos Saint Hilaire' Blanc de Noirs Brut.

The grapes that produced the first bottles of this wine were initially planted in the Clos Saint-Hilaire in 1964 and tended to for almost thirty years. It wasn't until 1995 that the first bottles were produced, however. The resulting 100 per cent Pinot Noir it was named Saint-Hilaire, in honor of the patron saint of the church in Mareuil-sur-Aÿ.

8.  Billecart-Salmon has 17th and 19th century cellars stretching over 2km. 

The house's extensive, historic cellars (Image Source: Billecart-Salmon)

Any good wine worth its salt doesn't just pay attention to its grapes and blending processes. Something else that's crucial is the aging process, and boy does Billecart-Salmon do that well.

The house has chalk cellars that date back to the 17th century. The wines are typically left to mature for several years, allowing the flavors and aromas to develop and harmonize. The cellar masters regularly monitor the wines, assessing their progress and deciding when they are ready for release.

Specifically, the non-vintage wines can spend up to three to four years in cellars before they peak, staying around twice as long as the regulations required of the appellation. On the other hand, vintage cuvées wait for up to ten years before they begin to reveal their maturity. 

9. Billecart-Salmon was chosen as the Champagne of the Millenium. 

The 1959 Nicolas François Billecart

Twice, if you want to be specific.

In 1999, several Champagne experts gathered in Stockholm to pick the "Champagne of the Millennium." It was quite the title, with a eye-watering lineup featuring competitors such as Dom Pérignon, Krug, Taittinger, Pol Roger and Louis Roederer.

Sixth-generation scion Antoine Roland-Billecart eventually entered the 1959 and 1961 Nicolas François Billecart in the competition. His house's champagnes not only won once, but twice. The 1959 clinched the coveted "Champagne of the Millennium", while the 1961 clinched second place. It effectively solidified Billecart-Salmon as one of the greats.

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Lok Bing Hong A budding journalist that loves experiencing new things and telling people's stories. I have 30 seconds of coherence a day. I do not decide when they come. They are not consecutive.

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