SALON Champagne 2007 Brut Blanc de Blancs Le Mesnil France

SALON 2007, FOURTH VINTAGE OF THE 21^st CENTURY

99 points Wine Enthusiast - This legendary Champagne, only produced in exceptional years, comes from the village of Le Mesnil in the Côte des Blancs. It is made from 100% Chardonnay and aged for many years before release. Its minerality, concentration and beautiful fruit are still astonishingly young and deserve further aging.

97 points James Suckling - Such an impressive wine for the detail in every respect. The nose delivers fresh lemon and grapefruit peel, together with white, stony minerals and very, very fresh and light pastry notes. Some grilled hazelnuts, too. The palate is super fine, supple and crisp with attractive, dry, salty minerals on the finish that holds super long, fine and focused. Elegant citrus and light brioche to close. Drink or hold.

97 points Wine & Spirits - This latest release of Salon announces itself with energy and leaves with freshness. It comes from a vintage marked by a cool, cloudy August that delayed ripening; after the vines recovered in September, they yielded this delicate chardonnay, completely saturated with flavor. It comes from 20 parcels in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, a selection established by the founder, Aimé Salon, in the early 1900s, including one estate parcel of 2.5 acres. Other than exclaiming on the wine’s delicious flavors, our panel was seduced by its texture, describing it in variations of silk, satin or chalk and velvet whiteness. It has a presence—a remarkable infusion of chalk soil—that sets it apart.

96 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate - There are pure chalk and lemon juice notes intertwined with perfectly ripe, sunny white and yellow-fleshed fruit expressions (even hints of pineapples) on the bright, fresh, subtle but most of all highly elegant and nobly expressive nose. Altogether, that makes the 2007 Blanc de Blancs Le Mesnil Brut an outstanding Salon that already shows its class without any reservation but also without any compromises to its refined and terroir-driven style. Compared to the powerful and structured 2006 that, from my memories, showed wet chalk flavors but almost no fruit in its youth, the weightless and delicate 2007 is a coolish, elegant and smoky gentleman dressed in a white tie and silk hat—Max Raabe singing Berlin chansons from the 1920s! The performance on the palate is pure yet concentrated, fresh and linear, very elegant and perfectly balanced, but most of all, it is extremely fine and stimulating! There is a chalky-dusty texture in the aftertaste that makes this a great Salon with sublime finesse and elegance. Lovely lemon flavors are displayed on the pure, fresh and concentrated finish. The radiant 2007 Salon is one of the greatest champagnes I have had from this vintage.

94 points Wine Spectator - A fresh and elegant Champagne, with a light, pleasing plushness to the mousse. This weaves subtle notes of fleshy mirabelle plum and nectarine fruit, preserved lemon and pastry dough with a chalky, minerally underpinning that lingers on the finish. Drink now through 2028.