SALON S Le Mesnil Blanc De Blancs 1997

Robert Parker Score: 95 points

Reviewer: David SchildknechtNovember, 2013

Walnut oil and smoky suggestions of struck flint in the nose of Salons 1997 Brut Le Mesnil are joined by intimation of the fresh lime and grapefruit that go on to inform its silken yet vivacious and refreshing palate with metaphorically cooling and sorbet-like refreshment. There is a vivid, hauntingly long, wave-like and buoying exchange of chalk and oyster shell, kelp and iodine with luscious citrus against a backdrop of creamy richness. This superb Salon - slightly more restrained than its 1999 counterpart, but no less intriguing or alluring - will merit at least a decade of cellaring.

Salon - totaling 40,000 to 60,000 bottles in years when it is produced (thats expressed as 750 ml. each; though magnums are becoming a significant and increasing share) - is still informed to a significant extent by its two founding blocks of massale selection vines in the heart of Le Mesnil and adjacent to the nowadays shared Salon-Delamotte facility. But there are some 20 total parcels - totaling 30 acres - under contract expressly for Salon, most of which are farmed in-house, and each of which is vinified separately. Of course, "expressly" has to be qualified. Salon has been made in fewer than 40 vintages (the exact number is disputed) since its commercial inauguration in 1921, and nowadays the fruit from its vineyards goes into bottlings of Delamotte in years when - after due consideration leading up to (potential) assemblage - no Salon is "declared." "Cest pas de Rocket Science, pas de secrets," remarks director Didier Depond - whose cellarmaster here, responsible also for Delamotte (and indeed, Laurent Perrier) is Michel Fauconnet - implying that its normally evident at harvest whether a given vintage will merit showcasing. Salon, which never undergoes malo-lactic transformation, is that rare thing among Champagnes: one designed expressly for aging, whether in the bottle or as part of the selective late disgorgements undertaken for specific clients from their sur point reserves. (Though one need only have a substantial income or an intense desire in order to acquire the "normal" disgorgements, the latter-sort are no doubt beyond the means or influence of all but a very few wine lovers. I was lucky enough to visit on a June day when a bottle of 1988 was being disgorged for a client, and the small amount of wine evacuated into my glass so as to be replaced by dosage - a non-dose Salon, bear in mind, that doesnt otherwise exist -demonstrated formidable depth of mineral-like and secondary nuances as well as stamina, grip, and mouthwatering salinity.)