below shows, the finest years will taste magnificent 20 to 30 years subsequent to release—at 30 to 40 years of age, that is.


The 2012 Champagne vintage 2012 was very tricky viticulturally. It began with severe frosts in February, a mild March, a wet and, in mid-month, severely frosty April, before a difficult June flowering. Whatever else, the harvest was not going to be abundant. July was rainy and mildew-troubled, followed by an early August heatwave. But September arrived clear-skied, warm by day, cool by night. The Chardonnay grapes ripened fully, and the harvest took place in ideal conditions, with small yields of fully ripe, very healthy fruit. Counterintuitive or what?


2012 Salon (Disgorged March 2021; dosage 5g/l; 60,000 bottles; September 2022 release price £1,450 per three bottles ex-tax)


Pale gold; a fine, persistent early bouquet of subtle autolytic nuttiness and brioche. To taste, this is both richly concentrated and well defined by a fresh cradle of acidity, with bubbles that are pillowy delicate, and Chardonnay-superfine, making for a most seductive texture already. Characteristically dry in flavor yet juicily ripe in fruit, the presence on the palate is energized by its driving mousse caress, amplified by a mouth-coating fragrance and with a particularly subtle lemon, stone-fruit, and chalk-infused persistence, a length of aftertaste very reminiscent of the striking finish on the 2002. Here are complexity and length at every juncture, in every respect, to smell, to taste, to finish. Bewitching wine, its magnificent stature underlined by its remarkable scope and absolute harmony, with the delicacy and power of great Burgundy. Like the 2002 when first released, this is a wine


to make you wonder. It defies description, really, but its wealth of impressions is worth an effort to enumerate. If without the absolute vigor and concentration of the 2008, qualitatively this is a wine to compare with the magnificent 2002 and 1996, in their very different styles. Remarkably gratifying already, but with the concentration and structure to provide decades of wonderment to come. Salon is an exemplary wine, and all its remarkable hallmarks are on display in this exceptional vintage. | 97+


A Delamotte and Salon retrospective at UK agent Corney & Barrow, London; April 13, 2016


All the Delamotte blanc de blancs except 2008 and 2012, which I have had at home recently, were tasted at the above event. And the exceptional 2012 Delamotte, described here, seems to me to be an exceptional buying opportunity at the moment, as I explain. All the Salon vintages described were also tasted at this event, with the exception of the 2002 and the 1995, which I drank with generous friends. Having enjoyed these four additional wines, it made sense to include them in this review. I have given the disgorgement dates and dosage (as supplied by Salon and Delamotte themselves) for each of the bottles that came directly from France for the occasion. The 1999 and 1985 Delamotte Collection, plus the 1996, 1990, 1988, 1971, and 1966 Salon were all disgorged in the first quarter of 2016, specifically for the tasting.


lightest of an early, biscuity bouquet, a very refined pure Chardonnay character. Beautifully balanced Champagne in early maturity, medium-full, fresh to vital in acidity, with a fine, bone-dry, gently aromatic flavor. Long, fresh, and succulent; moderately complex. Its mousse is a pure Chardonnay delicacy and with an excellent length of aftertaste, too. Benchmark Vintage Blanc de Blancs in delectable early maturity; lovely now, and likely excellent until at least 2030 and beyond. An absolute joy. | 93


2007 Delamotte Blanc de Blancs (Disgorged Q3 2014; dosage 8g/l)


2012 Delamotte Blanc de Blancs (Disgorged Q4 2019; dosage 6.5g/l; tasted London, January 2023)


Very pale gold; a small-bubbled, energetic, rising mousse. At 10 years, this is still very reserved and “primary” to smell, a closed bud, a delicate, persistent, white-peach perfume, with the merest hint of honey, toast, and brioche autolytic characters—very pretty indeed. This is a medium- weight Champagne, with an excellent concentration of deliciously ripe fruit and crisply defining, subtly citrus acidity. It is long, linear, and tightly contained, filled out and energized by a typically tiny-bubbled Chardonnay mousse and with an impressive finish, reflecting precisely those white-peach aromas of the nose, its perfectly sewn-in acidity carrying and defining the aftertaste most appetizingly. A perfect expression both of the blanc de blancs


style and of the superb 2012 vintage. A particularly fine and tasty Delamotte, a splendid follow-on to the outstanding 2008. This is a youngster, of course, at barely a decade old, but it is wonderfully rewarding already and with decades in hand. Make an occasion, if you can (I haven’t yet), to compare this to the 2008. The latter, without having them next to each other is, in memory, a somewhat more concentrated and structured, longer-term wine but also greatly rewarding already. A splendid back-to- back pair. Now to 2037+. | 92


A current buying opportunity? This 2012 Blanc de Blancs is currently priced at £400–500 + taxes (of 20%) per six bottles (winesearcher.com, January 2023). This is two thirds of the price of the 2008 (£600–750+/6), to which it is very close in quality. It is also half the price of the 2004 (£900+/6) and one third of the price of the 2000 (£1,200+/6), though it is noticeably finer and more complete than both. It is interesting to see how, currently, Delamotte Blanc de Blancs Vintage appears to increase in price, evenly and progressively, almost irrespective of absolute vintage quality but simply as a function of age. The 2012 seems to me exceptional value for its quality in the current Champagne context. To be sure, it is not the same experience as Salon, by some margin, but at 12 bottles of Delamotte for one of Salon, for a blanc de blancs that tastes and ages beautifully, it will be money very well spent.


2008 Delamotte Blanc de Blancs (Disgorged 2017; dosage 6.5g/l; tasted London, February 2022)


Lustrous, pale, greeny gold, youthful to behold for its 14 years. Fresh, white-peach fragrant, the


At barely 10 years of age, this is pale in color, tight and youthful to smell; a touch of nutty autolysis, and a touch of honey emerging as it sits in the glass. Rich by comparison with the 2004 but with all the purity, linearity, and fineness of mousse that is Chardonnay alone. In flavor, this is richly ripe in fruit, freshly defined, and with fine length. Just starting to drink most attractively, a real bouquet yet to come. To 2027+. | 91


2004 Delamotte Blanc de Blancs (Disgorged Q3 2014; dosage 7g/l)


Pale color; fresh, lightly yeasty nose. A medium- bodied wine, dry, fine-moussed, with a delectable Chardonnay delicacy, a toothsome defining freshness, and good length. Noticeably lighter than the 2007. The 2004 harvest was the largest, by some way, for a long time, and you taste this to some extent. But it’s all there, and it will doubtless keep well. To 2026+. | 91


1999 Delamotte Blanc de Blancs Collection (Disgorged Q1 2016; dosage <3g/l)


The Delamotte Collection wines are bottles of the finest vintages, kept long on their lees at the property, and disgorged for special occasions. Pale lemon-yellow; clear, light, biscuity autolysis. Delicate, still fresh, fine, and lively in mousse, a moderate complexity and length, with a touch of acid piquancy on the finish, so a touch austere here, and with modest length. That said, a very nice 17-year-old. | 90


1985 Delamotte Blanc de Blancs Collection (Disgorged Q1 2016; dosage zero)


Mid-gold; honeyed maturity. A gently “old Champagne” bouquet, very nutty, very toasty. An excellent balance, with a lovely freshness, and a gentle, still-vigorous and fine-textured mousse. Dry yet honeyed in flavor (zero dosage notwithstanding), perfectly reflecting the nose; modest in scope, and with excellent length, if very slightly drying on the finish. This is a lovely 30-year- old. Totally unlike a young Champagne. But if you take the time and trouble, and the implicit cost, of aging Champagne for many years, this is the reward you are looking for. Three decades of bottle age have conferred on this wine a very different character, with no loss of quality. The early spring frosts of 1985 were devastating for the year’s yield (I was there at the time and can still see the buckled blocks of ice in the streams crossing the fields), but it was very positive for quality, making for wines of exceptional concentration. Many, like this, have


THE WORLD OF FINE WINE | ISSUE 79 | 2023 | 71


All photography courtesy of Salon–Delamotte


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