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REGION: Champagne.
"Unique, Exceptional, Single Vineyard Champagne"
To which we must add the word rare. Champagne Salon Le Mesnil, to give it its full due, is a wine of such singularity it makes anything else seem mass-produced. Named after the tiny walled Grand Cru vineyard from which the fruit is sourced, the full name of which is le Mesnil-sur-Oger in the Cotes des Blancs, this is a single vintage Champagne, a single vineyard expression, made only from Chardonnay and only produced in the best years. In fact the current vintage, 1999, is only the 39th release of Salon since it was founded in 1910. Cellared for 10 years, the wine is elegant, fine, and subtle with the most extraordinary structure enabling it to age gracefully often two decades from vintage. With the richness of a great White Burgundy this truly is a wine that must be experienced to be understood.
http://www.salondelamotte.com
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Didier Depond - Managing Director of Salon Champagne House - A house famous for producing a small quantity of wine, always Blanc de Blancs, and only in a few select years - "just 39 out of the last 103 years," he notes. Salon is known for its steeliness when young and its great capacity for age. "When Salon is released, it is an adolescent," Depond says. "It will take ten years for it to become adult. Then it will continue to slowly improve and develop more complexity and intensity. At 25 to 30 years from release, it will enter its mature years and become deeper and more mellow. Many bottles of Salon are still full of life at the age when they have become seniors!"
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