2004 Salon "Le Mesnil" Vintage

2004 Salon weaves together immense complexity with stunning purity and makes instant impact on the nose with fresh-baked pastry and brioche, chalky minerals, fresh white mushroom, cucumber, lemon curd and striking lemon and lime citrus fruits. The palate has an almost smoky mineral thread, toasty autolytic flavors build and expand through the mid-palate, opening to grapefruit and ripe white peach flavours, lemon sorbet and very lightly grilled hazelnuts to close. This is an impressively layered Blanc de Blancs in which bright acidity supports the flavorsome, concentrated and fleshy texture in seamless balance. A great Salon, very composed and complex in every respect, a classically styled vintage in which this legendary Champagne has excelled. It will be a fascinatingly complex Champagne with further age. Drink now and for 10+ years.

Monocru (Le Mesnil-sur-Oger Grand cru), monocépage (Chardonnay) et monomillésime, Salon livre une cuvée S 2004 d'un raffinement exemplaire. Un vin porté par son élégance en bouche et par une définition exceptionelle. Salon comme toujours, se révélera avec le temps... Une bouteille à oublier 10 ans en cave.

Salon's releases are rare and signify a great vintage-the last release was the 2002. Coming from grand cru vineyards in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, this 2004 is complex and concentrated, capturing the essence of Chardonnay in Champagne. Intense minerality and ripe apple and citrus fruits accompany the purity and crisp texture that are part of its ability to age. The wine can continue for many years, certainly to 2025 and beyond.

Salon is Chardonnay from 20 parcels in Le Mesnil, all the original blocks chosen by Aîmé Salon with his first vintage in 1905. This latest vintage is quit at first, its sophisticated layering of flavors opening over the course of several days. With air, this tastes like a Puligny with bubbles, its vinous character portrayed in scents of white flowers, chamomile, peaches, kumquats and lemongrass, all of that intensity of flavor shepherded by the chalky direction of limestone acidity. Decant it if you open the wine now; this is structured to age for decades.

Elegant, featuring up-front, ripe aromas and flavors of dried apricot, crystallized honey and candied kumquat, giving way on the creamy palate to more subtle notes of raw almond, fleur de sel and star anise. Mouthwatering, with a chalky underpinning and a lovely, satiny finish. Drink now through 2026. From France.-A.N.

The 2004 Blanc de Blancs Le Mesnil Brut is another rather structured, tensile wine from a generally rather open vintage. Wafting from the glass are scents of citrus rind, crisp green apple, preserved citrus, fresh bread and smoke. Medium to full-bodied, tangy and chiseled, with fine depth at the core and a long, chalky finish, it's complemented by a pillowy pinpoint mousse. Unlike many wines from 2004, this Salon (tasted from a bottle disgorged in January 2019) still has potential to improve with further bottle age.