Billecart Salmon Nicolas Francois 1999

Very elegant, ethereal in texture and well-knit, offering flavors of poached pear, black licorice, lemon pâte de fruit, pastry and ground ginger. Shows fine balance and integration, with a fresh, lasting finish of ripe fruit and saline minerality. Drink now through 2027.

Yellow-gold. Powerful smoky, floral aromas of poached pear, orange pith, dried fig and iodine, with a smoky topnote. Rich and deeply pitched but almost shockingly energetic on the palate, offering a bracing mineral character to its citrus and orchard fruit flavors. The smoky quality comes back on the finish, which shows superb clarity and finishing thrust. This Champagne's marriage of power and vivacity is pretty impressive.