Billecart-Salmon Blanc de Blancs Brut Champagne Cuvée Louis 2012

99 points/'Top 100 Wines of 2024 (#33),' James Suckling: "Incredible aromas of brioche, bread dough and pie crust with superb, electrifying fruit, from peaches to fresh apples. It’s driven, mouthwatering and with fantastic structure, yet it’s so balanced and creamy. Very fine and silky bubbles. It’s better and better as it warms slightly in the glass. 3.9g/L dosage. Drink or hold. (11/3/24)"

98 points Tyson Stelzer (The Champagne Guide): "(tasted in 2024 in Australia; 100% chardonnay from Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Chouilly, Cramant and Oiry; 25% vinified in barrels of more than 15 years of age; partial malolactic fermentation; aged more than a decade on lees; disgorged in the third trimester of 2023; 3.9g/L dosage). Billecart's philosophy of master blending grants the blending team tremendous freedom, and while Louis Salmon usually relies heavily on Avize, the 2009 vintage was built predominantly on Cramant and 2012 on Le Mesnil-sur-Oger. The house names the vintage as 'one of the greatest of its decade, combining intensity and power with great aromatic finesse.' They have certainly captured the detail and the spirit of the season in Louis Salmon! Its energy and endurance is captured in a pale straw hue even at 12 years of age. Le Mesnil-sur-Oger leads the charge with a firecracker of energy in a brilliant flash of pure lemon, crunchy nashi pear and wisps of gunpowder reduction, exploding in a trail of pure chalk minerality that bores deep into the core of the ancient seabed of this inimitable terroir. One quarter vinification in old barrels serves to sure up the density and breadth of the mid-palate inherent to the ripe mood of the season, while heightening its dark spice complexity. Eminently graceful and elegant at every moment, this is all played judiciously, with classic Billecart sensitivity, upholding a resolute focus on the white fruits and crystalline brilliance of chardonnay deeply rooted in the finest crus of the Côte des Blancs. It culminates in a triumphant finale that holds mesmerising line and enduring length, sustained by a captivating display of mouth-embracing chalk minerality sure to hold its confidence for decades to come, transcending the longevity of the season. (2024)"

97 points Antonio Galloni (Vinous): "The 2012 Brut Blancs de Blancs Louis Salmon is a gorgeous Champagne. Lemon confit, spice, baked apple tart, chamomile and dried flowers are all nicely amplified. The 2012 was done 75% in tank and 25% in oak, with most of the lots undergoing malolactic fermentation. There's a feeling of reserve in the 2012 that is quite appealing. This edition is terrific, but it also needs time to be at its best. I would be in no rush to open this. Low yields and a year beset by frost, hail, heavy rain, mildew and sunburn at various times produced a rich Champagne. The blend of sites in Mesnil-sur-Oger, Chouilly, Cramant and Oiry works so well. Dosage is 3.9 grams per liter. Disgorged: first trimester 2023. Drink: 2025-2037. (Mar 2024)"

96 points Audrey Frick (JebDunnuck.com): "The 2012 Champagne Louis Salmon Blanc De Blancs is entirely from Côte de Blancs Grand Cru villages and saw 25% oak vinification, with most of the malo blocked to retain freshness. Initially, it opens to citrus-driven aromas of lime, but as it opens in the glass, it deepens to reveal notes of white peach, fresh bread, and a touch of toasted spice, with its portion of oak just highlighting the edges of the wine. The palate offers intensity without austerity, with a good, profound, layered feel, and it has a pillowy and elegant mousse, a coating texture of citrus oil, and a long finish. It’s already hard to resist but will improve with time. It’s a wonderful wine for Billecart-Salmon in this vintage. Bravo. Drink 2026-2046. It saw 3.9 grams per liter dosage and 4.4 grams in the final wine. Drink: 2026-2046. (12/20/24)"

96 points Tom Hewson (Decanter): "Tasted from magnum. Alongside the main release in 75cl, a limited number of magnums of 2012 Louis Salmon have been released simultaneously. Aged under cork during its second fermentation, these reframe the 2012's already expressive aromatics in explosive charry, flinty energy and an extra degree of fluid freshness on the palate, representing an irresistible supercharging of the beautifully ripe lemon syrup, apricot and sweet spice flavours present in this fine release, nimble and transparent with a beautifully precise palate unmarked by dosage or some of the heavier, more concentrated fruit the year can bring. 60% from Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, with the remainder from Cramant, Chouilly and Oiry, with 25% barrel fermentation and 115 months on lees. Dosage 3.9g/L. Drinking Window: 2024-2040. (4/11/24)"

96 points James Suckling: "Precise and sensual blanc de blancs with notes of pie crust, grapefruit, white peaches, chalk and hazelnuts. Driven, mouth-watering and with fantastic structure, yet it’s so balanced and creamy. Very fine and silky bubbles. 3.9g/L dosage. Drink or hold. (5/3/24)"

95 points/'Le Coup de Coeur,' La Revue du Vin de France: "Louis Salmon 2012 is a very big wine, deep, salivating, full and racy. (2025)"

94 points Wine Spectator: "Fresh and appealing, with a refined, lively mousse and good cut to the focused flavors of poached apricot and lemon pound cake that show accents of pickled ginger, vanilla and pastry cream. Long and harmonious, with a well-spiced finish. Disgorged winter-spring 2023 (My Origin 121234). Drink now through 2035. (9/25/24)"