Salon Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne Le Mesnil 2012

99 points Yohan Castaing (Decanter): "The Salon 2012 has scintillating aromatic brilliance and purity with seductive scents of white fruit, citrus zest and spring flowers capped by a touch of spice. With some air, pastry-like notes add to its complex yet elegant fragrance, which remains essentially citrussy in character. On the palate, it reverberates with kinetic energy coursing through its crystalline and elongated structure, making this vintage Champagne seem a bit atypical for Salon. Indeed, this edition is supremely elegant and subtle to a degree that surpasses those of other recent vintages. Salon 2012 is a racy thoroughbred that will go the distance without effort, a telltale sign being its chalk-infused yet airborne finish. In time, it will in all likelihood merit the ultimate accolade of a 100-point score. Dosage: 6g/L. Disgorged: March 2021. Drinking Window: 2021-2050. (Sep 2021)"

99 points Wine Enthusiast: "As always, this exceptional Champagne, only released in top vintages, shows its rare qualities. Its poise between texture, acidity, intense aging ability and minerality are so right. It is ready to drink, but that would be a shame, because this wine will age so well. Drink from 2025. Alcohol 13%. (Dec 2022)"

98+ points William Kelley (Wine Advocate): "Back in 2014, Salon's president Didier Depond was quoted in the press as saying that “since 2008, there has been no genuinely great vintage in Champagne" and that a 2012 from Salon wouldn't be released. But the just-released 2012 Brut Blanc de Blancs Le Mesnil shows that he had good reason to change his mind, as to my palate this is, after the 2008, the finest Salon produced this millennium. Unwinding in the glass with notes of citrus oil, wet stones, freshly baked bread, white currants and oyster shell, it's full-bodied, deep and concentrated, with a tightly wound core of fruit, racy acids and an elegant pinpoint mousse. Concluding with a long and resonant finish, this is a structured and powerful Salon that's a lot more incisive than, for example, the 2002 at the same stage, but which also carries more muscle and substance than a leaner vintage such as 2007. For readers that have balked at the pricing of the magnum-only 2008, the 2012 isn't far off the latter's level in quality, and will presumably be distributed more conventionally. Drink: 2025-2050. (Sep 2021)"

98+ points Jeb Dunnuck: "The 2012 Champagne Salon pours a pale straw hue and reveals layered aromas that take time to unfold, including delicate lemon curd, a hint of smoke, candied green apple, and very pretty white flowers. The palate is focused and concentrated, with a long spine of energy throughout, offering elegant layers that are all in concert with each other, with salinity, ripe freshness, and the refined texture of the mousse. As it opens, orchard fruits emerge of apricot, croissant, and delicate sherry-like notes of iodine. This is an incredible and timeless wine that will be a pleasure to taste again over the coming decades. Drink 2024-2044. (11/7/22)"

98 points/'Le Coup de Coeur,' La Revue du Vin de France: "We're entering a new dimension with the superb 2012 millesime. With all the respect we have for the 2007, the 2012 from Le Mesnil takes us much further, both in the purity and the depth of the wine. But we'd still advise you not to rush out and buy this divine bottle. The wine remains restrained, reduced and toasty, and needs time to open up and free itself. (2023)"

98 points James Suckling: "Gorgeous aromas of cooked apple, bread dough and pie crust. Hints of lemon curd, flint and match stick, too. Full-bodied and dense with agility and beauty, particularly in the center-palate that just lifts at the end. So much density and structure, yet it always remains floating and aerial. Phenolic and integrated at the end. Impressive structure and length. Very drinkable now, but gives the sensation that it will be better in three or four years. (7/11/22)"

97+ points Michael Schuster (The World of Fine Wine): "(Disgorged March 2021; dosage 5g/l; 60,000 bottles; September 2022 release). 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, tofinish. 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 208, 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. (Issue 79; 2023)"

97 points Antonio Galloni (Vinous): "The 2012 Salon is absolutely gorgeous. It offers a beguiling mix of radiance and energy that seems to capture a little bit of elements of some of its older siblings. The expression of fruit is radiant and quite overt, but without reaching the tropical exuberance of the 2006. In shape, the 2012 recalls the mid-weight style of 2007 with the freshness of 2008, but not quite the youthful austerity of that wine. If that sounds like an appealing combination, well it is. The 2012 Salon is all harmony and class. Drink: 2022-2043. (Nov 2021)"