CHAMPAGNE SALON Brut Blanc de Blancs 'Cuvee S' Le Mesnil - Cote de Blancs 2013 Bottle

Description

The 2013 Salon, regarded as the original blanc de blancs, is a truly exceptional Champagne that embodies the vision of its founder, Aimé Salon. This vintage has garnered stellar ratings, including 99 points from Vinous, which praises its powerful, dense profile and extraordinary complexity. Featuring notes of lemon confit, dried flowers, and mint, it showcases mid-palate intensity and richness. James Suckling awarded it 97 points, highlighting its expressive nose of waxed lemons, chamomile, and hazelnuts, along with a precise balance of minerality and ripe fruit. Decanter also rated it 97 points, describing its inviting fragrance of orange cream and floral honey, with a lengthy, structured finish that reflects its prestigious terroir. Perfect for aging, this wine promises to evolve beautifully, ideally savoured between 2033 and 2060.

*****

Salon: the original blanc de blancs: captivating, uncompromising, refined; a champagne as distinctive as its creator Aimé Salon, the pioneer of a style for all time. Salon: defined by its singularity — a single grape variety, Chardonnay; a single cru, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger; a single vintage, when exacting criteria can be met. This is also why Salon’s legacy is as rare as it is legendary. Today, some 120 years after Aimé’s idea took form, we release Salon 2013, still only the 44th vintage to be made.

The 2013 growing season in Champagne, as in vast swathes of France, was certainly far from a ‘textbook classic’, at least not in the positive sense, memorable for reasons so many vignerons would prefer to forget. While Champagne is no stranger to climatic curveballs, the particular configuration of conditions unleashed during those crucial months of 2013 threatened to derail the entire vintage, and for many, did just that.

Despite an abysmal start to the year, and the much-delayed, difficult flowering, the late season ripening period and the dedication of the Salon team were to prove the saving graces. The grapes that made it through the strict selection process showed tremendous concentration of fruit, and tense, racy acidities.

“2013’s extraordinary stature will forever set it apart, with its impressive physique and insolent beauty.” - Didier Depond, Président, Champagne Salon

VINOUS 99 points
Salon: the original blanc de blancs: captivating, uncompromising, refined; a champagne as distinctive as its creator Aimé Salon, the pioneer of a style for all time. Salon: defined by its singularity — a single grape variety, Chardonnay; a single cru, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger; a single vintage, when exacting criteria can be met. This is also why Salon’s legacy is as rare as it is legendary. Today, some 120 years after Aimé’s idea took form, we release Salon 2013, still only the 44th vintage to be made.

The 2013 growing season in Champagne, as in vast swathes of France, was certainly far from a ‘textbook classic’, at least not in the positive sense, memorable for reasons so many vignerons would prefer to forget. While Champagne is no stranger to climatic curveballs, the particular configuration of conditions unleashed during those crucial months of 2013 threatened to derail the entire vintage, and for many, did just that.

Despite an abysmal start to the year, and the much-delayed, difficult flowering, the late season ripening period and the dedication of the Salon team were to prove the saving graces. The grapes that made it through the strict selection process showed tremendous concentration of fruit, and tense, racy acidities.

“2013’s extraordinary stature will forever set it apart, with its impressive physique and insolent beauty.” - Didier Depond, Président, Champagne Salon

VINOUS 99 points
The 2013 is the most powerful, dense young Salon I have ever tasted. Champagne of mind-bending complexity, the 2013 possesses tremendous mid-palate intensity and power from the very first taste. Lemon confit, dried flowers, mint and a touch of brioche appear first, followed by light tropical accents that add an exotic flair. Imagine the sizzling energy of the 2008 and the persistence of 2004, with more mid-palate richness and riper fruit. Two-thousand thirteen was a cool, late ripening year. Harvest started at the beginning of October under sunny, dry days and cool nights, conditions that have not been seen since then. Readers will find a spectacular, modern Salon endowed with tremendous depth and very little of the youthful austerity that once defined Champagnes from cooler years here. The 5.5 grams per liter of dosage is perfectly judged. In a word: Magnificent. - Antonio Galloni

JAMES SUCKLING 97 points
Beautiful and expressive nose of waxed lemons, chamomile, hazelnuts, sourdough, mango stones and hints of orange curd. It's linear and laser-sharp, with an elegant balance of minerality and touches of ripe yellow fruit, all held together by lively acidity and tiny bubbles. Sophisticated. Evolves to a dry chalkiness at the end. Long, textured finish. Disgorged end of 2022. Drink or hold.

THE WINE ADVOCATE 97 points
2013 is a cool, late-ripening vintage in Champagne, defined by an October harvest in cool but sunny conditions. With a dosage of 5.5 grams per liter, the 2013 Brut Blanc de Blancs Le Mesnil possesses a complex, fruity bouquet mingling aromas of orchard fruit with notions of lemon oil, exotic fruits, spring flowers, almond and hints of menthol and buttery pastry. Full-bodied, rich and dense, with lively acids, it’s more complex and incisive than the 2002 and exhibits similar power to the 2012 at this early stage. Despite what was a challenging growing season for some producers, this is a superb Salon with a long, resonant finish. - Yohan Castaing

DECANTER 97 points
Drinking Window: 2033 - 2060 - The first impression upon release in September 2023 is of surprisingly open, welcoming fragrance for young Salon; orange cream, floral honey and lemon peel, backed up with delicate browned pastry, milky oyster and nut oil complexity that speaks of the long lees ageing. It is taut rather than austere, with a delicate, even level of flesh on its rigid bones as the classic chalky marine squeeze of Le Mesnil takes hold and propels a long, detailed lemon peel finish. This could prove a classic Salon given considerable patience. - Tom Hewson