Pouring a bright silver/yellow color, the 2015 Champagne Salon Brut is a bit shy on the nose at first but offers richness on the palate, with peppery spice and crystalline, satiny earth, white peach, quince, and a stone-fruit fleshiness to the texture, characteristic of a sunny vintage. Harvested in the first days of September, it’s medium-bodied and has a broader texture throughout the palate, maintaining the delicacy and finesse of the house. It has a muscular profile but remains tailored, with some phenolic touches and a fresh richness in texture and structure. It has a pinpoint mousse and a touch of frothiness on the finish, ending with a structured and dry finish. When revisited in the glass, it becomes more smoky, and it gains in intensity as it opens. While it currently shows restraint, it should only improve with several years in the bottle. Drink 2027-2060.<!--more-->Located in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Salon is dedicated to a single bottling of Chardonnay that is produced only in exceptional vintages. Eugene-Aimé Salon made the first vintage in 1905, but it wasn’t declared a brand until 1921. It is crafted from a one-hectare plot behind the house, the Salon garden, and an additional 19 small plots across Le Mesnil-sur-Oger totaling ten hectares. Fermentation and aging occur in stainless steel tanks, with malolactic fermentation completely halted. The wines are rested for an average of ten years before release. Since 1989, Salon and Delamotte have been part of the Laurent-Perrier group.

The 2015 Salon is exquisite. Bright and focused, the 2015 captures a gorgeous stylsitic middle ground between the riper and cooler years. The flavor profile leans towards the more citrus, floral and mineral-driven end of the spectrum typical of cooler years, and yet the wine is also wonderfully open-knit and accessible, with no hard edges and the textural balance that is more common in warmer years. It's a duality that works extremely well. There is a savory undertone typical of the year, but it is a strand in the fabric rather than a dominant characteristic. I left a bottle open for more than a week, during which I observed virtually no oxidation. The 2015 might not be as overtly impressive as some recent years, rather it is a Champagne of cool sophistication and total polish. Unusually, the 2015 is being released ahead of the 2014. - Antonio Galloni

Fragrant aromas of chamomile, pineapple, beeswax, pie crust and some salted toffee from this generous vintage. Tasty sesame seed flavors on the palate, accompanied by a chalky, saline character. It's creamy and concentrated with very soft bubbles. Engaging and open already, yet with good acidic structure. 100% chardonnay from Le Mesnil-sur-Oger. 6 g/L dosage. Disgorged end of 2024. Delicious already, but can hold.

2015 is the current release of Salon as the team is quietly waiting for the very promising 2014 to be ready. It is a surprisingly concentrated yet open Salon, already pale gold in the glass. The ripe nose – on the poire amandine register – is confirmed by a quite a fleshy palate, as expected from this specific vintage. The hydric quality of the chalk of Le Mesnil contributed without a doubt to minimize the stress (and the green notes) of the year: the notes lemon balm and shiso offer some nice counterpoints to the more juvenile, luscious custard aromas. It deserves to be cellared. Nine years on tirage, 6g of dosage.

(95+ points) Released ahead of the 2014 rendition and originating from a dry, sunny growing season, Salon’s 2015 Brut Blanc de Blancs Le Mesnil, disgorged in spring 2025 with a dosage of six grams per liter, follows in the footsteps of 2013, continuing a run of releases that are friendly from the start, without the austere edge that has often characterized this cuvée in the past. It expresses itself from the glass with a deep bouquet of orange peel, linden and freshly baked bread mingled with notes of lemon confit and subtle hints of lychee and mango. Full-bodied, concentrated and broad, it is fleshy and charming, with a generous core of fruit underpinned by ripe yet racy acidity and enlivened by a pillowy mousse, before concluding with a long, saline finish. This is a structured, open-knit Salon that carries a similar substance to its two immediate predecessors and will not disappoint those who choose to open it in its youth, despite my strong recommendation to cellar it for at least a decade—if not longer—as I anticipate it will follow a comparable evolutionary trajectory to the 1990 rendition.- Kristaps Karklins

Initially reduced on the nose, this opens with air to reveal rich notes of toasted brioche and smoked hazelnut layered with white peach, baked pineapple and tangerine sorbet flavors, plus a minerally underpinning of oyster shell and chalk. The plush mousse offers a luxe, cashmerelike feel while carrying the rich range of flavors, trimmed nicely by chiseled, lemony acidity. Drink now through 2040.