An uncommon blend of 40% pinot meunier and 30% each of pinot noir and chardonnay, with 40% reserve wines, fermented in a mix of tank and use of aged oak barrels. Deliberate choice of meunier is the key to its drink any time soon style, which combining elegance, finesse and great length.

Plenty of pinot character with strawberry and dried apple and some flint and matchstick, as well as stone. It’s medium- to full-bodied with freshness, a creamy texture and a long, delicious finish. 40% pinot meunier, 30% chardonnay and 30% pinot noir. 28% 2019 and the rest reserve wine going back to 2006. Dosage 3g/l. Drink now.

Billecart-Salmon's 2019-based Brut Réserve continues the impressive rebirth of this cuvée, showing more focus, length and sapidity than previous versions. The dosage has dropped to 3g/L (from 9g/L in 2016), but the delicious nut oil and brown bread reserve wine depth props up roasted lime and apricot fruit. One to watch. 40% Meunier, 30% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay.

Built on the 2020 base, the NV Champagne Le Réservé Extra Brut features a copper hue and is a blend of 43% Meunier, 28% Pinot Noir, and 29% Chardonnay. I have written about the evolution of this wine over the past two years, and I continue to be highly impressed with what they are achieving. To achieve greater complexity and overall balance in the wine, they have lowered the dosage while increasing the use of reserve wine to 71%, half of which comes from a perpetual reserve established in 2006. They have also increased the aging time to 50 months on the lees (an additional six months from the previous release). It is attractive and fresh, with elegant spice, pure stone fruit, fresh pastry, and notes of orange blossoms. The palate is medium to full-bodied, with appealing verticality, a peppery mousse, and a precise and refreshing finish. Bravo. 3 grams per liter dosage. Drink 2025-2035.

Light burnished gold with a fine, evanescent bead and finished with a three gram per liter dosage, the Billecart-Salmon Brut Réserve NV is a 40% Pinot Meunier, 30% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay blend based on the 2019 vintage with a dominant 62% of reserve wines, the oldest of which is from 2006. From this deep bench of vinous blending emerge perfumed aromas of poached pear, persimmon, dried iris blooms, and a whiff of toast comingling with smoky and bready autolytic notes. Medium-bodied and round, the palate has a vinous texture with ample ripe fruit sweetness, vivacious acidity to balance and grace notes of fresh lemon to add brightness to the finish. Disgorged in the third quarter of 2022. - Sarah Mayo

The NV Brut Le Réserve (base 2020) is the first edition of the former Brut Réserve in its new incarnation, with the greater focus that is such a central part of the Billecart approach these days. Pliant, creamy and seductive, Le Réserve is terrific. Dried pear, hazelnut, spice, orange peel and dried flowers all meld together in an effortless, gracious Champagne that is all class. Dosage is 3 grams per liter. Disgorged: First Quarter 2024. -- Antonio Galloni

Based on the 2020 vintage (the youngest vintage serves as the “base” of a bottling, even if it does not represent the majority of the blend) and incorporating 71% reserve wines—half stored as individual vintages and the other half as a perpetual reserve initiated in 2006—Billecart-Salmon’s latest NV Le Réserve is showing nicely. It offers aromas of green pear, honeysuckle, brioche and white peach. Disgorged in early 2024 with a dosage of three grams per liter, this reimagined cuvée has recently undergone a significant reduction in dosage. The sweetness that so often presents itself on the finish of NV Champagnes from Grandes Marques is no more. Medium to full-bodied, lively and charming, with a textural attack and vibrant acidity, it culminates in a long, precise finish. This reinvented cuvée replaces the Brut Réserve and, beyond the lowered dosage, sees a stricter fruit selection, an additional 20 months of aging sur lattes (now totaling 50 months) and an increased proportion of the perpetual reserve. - Kristaps Karklins

An elegant Champagne that glides across the palate on its satiny mousse, integrating a chalky underpinning and pleasing range of white cherry, grainy pear, toasted almond, vanilla wafer, and pretty verbena and ginger aromatics. Fresh and focused through the lacy finish. Pinot Meunier, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Disgorged spring 2024. Drink now. - AN