Fermented in wood with a touch of spice and toast on the palate, this Champagne is beautifully textured and structured. The Chardonnay gives the wine a steely edge that suggests the bottling could age, so wait to drink this very fine wine from 2023. Roger Voss

Attractive nose of brioche, walnuts, salted almonds and baked apples. Some nutmeg. Lovely richness of flavor yet so bright, medium-bodied, with a salty freshness and very fine bubbles. Excellent length. 2016 base vintage with 26% reserve wines going back to 2006. 2.9g/L dosage. Drink now.

Composed of 48% Pinot Noir, 32% Chardonnay, and the rest Meunier, the NV Champagne Sous Bois is always aged on lees for five years. Made with 26% reserve wine and two grams per liter dosage, it pours a touch deeper golden straw color and is aromatic of fresh baked bread, marzipan, peaches, and marmalade. It’s not as oaky as I’d remembered it from previous tastings, with the blend feeling more harmonious and integrated. Full-bodied but not overly opulent, it fills the palate with a supple richness although it’s fully dry, and its nuttiness is still present but doesn’t dominate the wine. It would be paired exceptionally well with Comte cheese. 2 grams per liter of dosage, disgorged the second quarter of 2023. Drink 2024-2040. - Audrey Frick

The NV Extra Brut Sous Bois (base 2016) is one of the more immediate wines in this range from Billecart-Salmon. Fermentation and aging in oak adds curves to this layered, open-knit Champagne. The Sous Bois is not the most complex wine at Billecart-Salmon, but its sheer appeal and allure can’t be denied. In this tasting, it is absolutely delicious. This release is based on 2016, with 26% reserve wines back to 2006. Dosage is 2 grams per liter. Disgorged: fourth trimester 2022. -- Antonio Galloni

Fermented and aged over winter in second-hand small barrels and barrels seasoned in-house (although future editions will include wine from larger casks). Rich and inviting apricot and kernel notes, brown butter and nutty honey. Some soft strawberry and an appetising, tangy apple length, highly expressive but really rather polished and rounded out. One third each Pinot Noir, Meunier and Chardonnay.

The Brut Sous Bois NV is 100% barrel fermented which is a departure from the Billecart-Salmon signature practice of stainless-steel cold fermentation, yet the result does not compromise freshness. A blend of 40% Chardonnay and 30% each of Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier based on the 2015 vintage with 40% of reserve wines, the oldest of which is from 2006, this was cellared for prolonged aging, disgorged in the third quarter of 2022 and finished Extra Brut with a 4.9 gram per liter dosage. Opening with rich, toasty notes of apple tart, lemon zest, marzipan, butter pastry, and Manuka honey, the medium-bodied palate imbues vigor and a lovely acid buoyancy to a richly fruited mid-palate and the fresh, honeyed finish. For those who enjoy an oaked style of champagne, the Brut Sous Bois offers a contemplative nose and gives a lot to talk about in the mouth. Enjoyable. - Sarah Mayo

The base wine for this blend is fermented and aged in old, neutral oak barrels, the wine aged on the lees for more than six years in bottle. Those factors contribute to its toasty richness, and add potency to its earthy savor. It’s a firmly structured wine built for oysters roasted in a wood oven.

Heavily based on the 2017 vintage (with 34% reserve wines dating back to 2006), fermented at low temperatures and entirely vinified in oak, the NV Le Sous Bois blends fruit from vast areas of Montagne de Reims, Vallée de la Marne and Côte des Blancs (notably Oger, Chouilly and Cramant). Disgorged with a dosage of five grams per liter in spring 2023, after five years of lees aging, it reveals aromas of green apple, vanilla, peach and toasted nuts, mingling with hints of caramelized sugar. On the palate, it is medium to full-bodied, precise and fine-boned, featuring a youthful fruit core supported by vibrant acidity, with subtle bitter phenolics asserting themselves on the finish. Given the challenges of the growing season, it incorporates a higher proportion of Chardonnay than usual. - Kristaps Karklins

Rich flavors of chopped cherry, raspberry, roasted hazelnut, orange curd and brioche are animated by a firm spine of citrusy acidity in this tightly meshed Champagne, with a creamy mousse. Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir. Disgorged Spring-Summer 2023. Drink now. - AN