BILLECART-SALMON Brut Rose 'Cuvee Elisabeth Salmon' 2012 Bottle

Description

Billecart-Salmon Cuvée Elisabeth Salmon 2012 is an exquisite Champagne that epitomises elegance and complexity, earning high praise with 97 points from The Wine Advocate, 96 points from both Decanter and Vinous, and 95 points from Wine Enthusiast. This stunning rosé features a blend of 55% Chardonnay and 45% Pinot Noir, showcasing a luminous hue and an aromatic bouquet of crushed rose petals, ripe red berries, and delicate spices. On the palate, it is creamy and refined, with vibrant acidity and enticing minerality, complemented by flavours of peach melba and raspberry. Jancis Robinson awarded it 18 points for its remarkable intricacy. This beautiful wine is perfect for enjoying now or cellaring until 2035, embodying the pinnacle of Billecart-Salmon’s craftsmanship.

*****

The Cuvée Elisabeth Salmon 2008 vintage is the expression of the finest Pinot Noir and Chardonnay terroirs. It offers a unique and sensorial experience, the fruit of more than a decade of patience. APPEARANCE: Its appearance is luminous, with soft, coppery shimmers and a sustained salmon pink hue. PALATE: A measured strength which is delicate and charming at the same time, with the harmonious maturing of flavours (mandarin, blood orange, and Reinette apple tart). An ample and full character in the mouth unveiling a chalky edge and persistent finish of citron zest as well as red and white currants. AROMA: There is a refreshing sensorial experience of citrus peel and red berry jelly. With the exquisite sensation of a rich and complex aromatic generosity (Plougastel and Mara des Bois strawberries, pêche de vigne). Pretty, refined and mature olfactory notes that bring out the inimitable fragrances of sweet spices and wild raspberry pulp. TASTING: This great and highly refined wine presents its personality with wonderful delicacy of texture and flavour. The aromatic charm of a rare mineral aspect to pair with beautiful poulet de Bresse with crayfish or a few Breton langoustines royales.

• 55% Pinot Noir from the Montagne de Reims and the Grande Vallée de la Marne

• 45% Chardonnay from the Côte des Blancs

• Less than 10% of the Pinot Noir is vinified as a red wine. The grapes for the red wine are come from the “Valofroy” vineyard of old vines, located on the slopes of Mareuil-sur-Aÿ and which benefit from a south facing exposure.

JAMES SUCKLING 97 points
This has a lovely copper color with aromas of cloves, spiced apples, raspberries, gingerbread and pastries. Delicious yeasty and spicy undertones. Excellent density and focus, with fine and firm bubbles, yet it’s light on its feet and so fresh. Long, chalky and salty at the end. Chardonnay and pinot noir. 3.8g/L dosage. Drink or hold.
Claire Nesbitt
Staff Writer & Critic

THE WINE ADVOCATE 97+ points
Reviewed by: Yohan Castaing
Drink Date: 2024 - 2054
A blend of 45% Pinot Noir and 55% Chardonnay, the 2012 Brut Rosé Cuvée Elisabeth Salmon is a real success, wafting from the glass with aromas of red berries, rose, peony, orange blood and dried flowers. Medium to full-bodied, vinous and broad, it's dense and deep with a multidimensional core of fruit, racy acids and a textural structure, concluding with a long, delicate, mouthwatering finish. This is one of the finest rosé I've tasted at this address. Kudos!

Billecart-Salmon’s style is characterized by elegance, purity and delicate freshness. Low fermentation temperatures are employed to preserve the purity and expressiveness of the fruit, while malolactic fermentation is systematically blocked to maintain the wine’s vibrant acidity. Since Mathieu Roland-Billecart’s arrival in 2018, the estate has expanded its barrel program, focusing on the best terroirs for cuvées like Brut Réserve and Brut Sous Bois, and has initiated biodynamic viticulture in Le Clos Saint-Hilaire.

Published: Oct 24, 2024

JANCIS ROBINSON 18 points
Super-mature nose, more developed than the Nicolas François. Lots of autolytic persistence and yeastiness. There's a lovely umami aniseed note in the background, with a level of complexity and interest that is especially rare for rosé champagne. (RH)

VINOUS 96 points
Drinking Window 2026 - 2037
From: 2025 Champagne: New Releases (Updated Nov 2025) (Apr 2025)
The 2012 Brut Rosé Cuvée Elisabeth Salmon is a very sexy Champagne, but it is also quite reserved, especially within the context of the year. Crushed rose petal, kirsch, white pepper, slate and mint are all beautifully delineated in a sculpted, taut Rosé. Its finest drinking belongs to the future. Dosage is 3.8 grams per liter. Disgorged: January 2023. - By Antonio Galloni on April 2025

DECANTER 96 points
Tasted by: Tom Hewson
(at London, 11 Apr 2024)
Part of First Taste: Billecart-Salmon's 2012 releases
Drinking Window: 2024 - 2040
Tasted from magnum. Alongside the main release in 75cl, a limited number of magnums of 2012 Elisabeth Salmon have been released simultaneously. The differences are marked – the magnum presents a hugely engaging sparky, spicy and charry energy that lifts up the Chardonnay presence in the wine and plays beautifully with the allspice, pepper and rose detail that sits above peach melba, raspberry and black cherry fruit. There is plenty of immediate pleasure in what is a medium-bodied, restrained take on 2012, although this is a wine that – especially in magnum – looks set for a long window of enjoyment with its delicately insistent tension. 55% Chardonnay from Chouilly, Avize, Cramant and Le Mesnil-sur-Oger with 45% Pinot Noir from Mareuil-sur-Aÿ and Ambonnay, with 8.3% red wine addition from Mareuil-sur-Aÿ. 2.9% fermented in barrel, and released after 115 months on lees with a dosage of 3.8g/L.

WINE ENTHUSIAST 95 points
First produced in 1988 and made only in top years, this Champagne is named after the producer's founder. With age (more than nine years on lees), it has developed a patina of toastiness and roundness. There is a toasty character that chimes with this fine wine's crisp texture. Drink now. — Roger Voss