Is Salon worth the entry cost ?

WINE TALK
21

I’m just starting to explore Champagne more seriously and have noticed that while many Champagnes are high quality, the styles can differ a lot.

What style is Salon? Right now, I’m loving cream, brioche/bread, and lemon curd, but not a huge fan of strong minerality. I’m afraid of spending a lot on a “nice” bottle only to find out it’s not the style I like.

22

at current pricing i would say get yourself a bottle of les carelles from selosse…

23

I take it for granted that it will lean a little to the left, but generally well written and researched work. I usually opt for the online version.

[wow.gif]

24

Big champagne tastings are what I recommend for everyone; the wine house and Wally’s have pretty absurd lineups. The vip is well worth it, salon was gone by the time the reg tasting started in 17.

25

Not for me. Sold all mine.

Too expensive and too inconsistent (historically).

26

Used to be yes. Now I just don’t spend that much per bottle. My last vintage was 1996, which is maybe the best Salon I’ve ever had. Glad to have a few left. If I won multi-millions in the lottery, I’d start buying it again.

27

Have tasted only a few vintages, but based on my experience, Salon is definitely very lean, taut and mineral - to the point it being the most extreme example of piercingly mineral, crystalline Blanc de Blancs. It tends to require several decades before really starting to unwind and develop toastier and nuttier tones.

For example the 1999 vintage I had a few years ago was still very tightly-knit and showing remarkably high acidity for such a warm vintage. Overall the wine felt almost backward and a lot more youthful than many a younger Champagne we had at the same time. There were some creamier tones, the fruit showed some ripeness and the mousse felt very smooth and creamy, but the overall style was quite austere, mineral and lemony in its acid-driven fruit character.

So if you prefer less mineral, more autolytic (brioche, bread and nuts) Champagnes, Salon might not be up your alley. At least I prefer more brooding, vinous style of Champagne and the Krug style fits my palate better than Salon.

28

Yes, elegant, intense, precise and minerally are all adjectives I’d apply to Salon. When they are on they are amazing, one of the finest Champagnes in the world (and I greatly prefer the style to Krug or Dom Ruinart or Dom Perignon). However the high price combined with the extreme variability means I never buy them.

There are plenty of more reliable and less expensive Champagnes out there which I love.

29

Buy an 08 Delamotte BDB and if you like the style, maybe you’d like Salon.

30

For me, Salon’s price hikes over the past several vintages have been off-putting. And what I’m hearing the pricing will be for mags of '08 is insulting, although to be fair, I understand the quality to be superb and the quantity to be smaller than usual.
The last vintage i bought was the '02 and in modest quantities. Sold all of my '82-'90 a decade ago due to variability with many extremely advanced bottles. Older vintages ('79 and back) can be great drinking experiences if well stored.
I currently only own a few vintages with '96 being the only one in quantity. And even '96 has its variability, most likely due to multiple disgorgements; I forgot what they told me, but it was either seven or nine.
A few of us have done comprehensive '96 horizontals at least a dozen times, and sometimes Salon is in the top two or three and sometimes barely in the top ten. To my recollection it has never topped Clos du Mesnil in any of those horizontals or in any much smaller comparisons, but it has bested Krug a few times.
Not sure I will purchase any '08 Salon, but if I do it will only be 3-6 mags.

31

Great thread here.

+1 to the Salon variability. Had the 96 from my cellar purchased on release a few months ago, and it was a good but very far from a great 96, never would have guessed it to be Salon or 96. 96 was the last vintage of Salon I purchased.

32

I had the fortune in 2006 to participate in an extensive tasting of Salon Champagne, provenience directly from the domaine.
The tasting included Delamotte NV/'99/97 as well as Salon 96/95/90/88/85/83/82/79. The 85/83/82/79 were dégorgement à la volée, sans dosage.
The 79 was still incredibly fresh, monumental, as was the 82. I have never had any tasting experience with Champagne that came close to mature Salon, and I have had my fair share of Krug or Growers such as Selosse. It’s a BdB so therefore obviously different in style than Krug or DP. If I would spend money on Champagne, it would be Salon.

33

Yes.

34

Wow! What an experience!

35

Alan, based on your statement, I think DP is the right champers for you.

36

Scott

I dont find DP that creamy and the mousse to me is not fine enough for a premium Champagne

37

Which Champagne(s) have you drunk that have met your standards for “premium Champagne”?

38

Dom Ruinart, older Krug ( not so much recent cuvees ) Bollinger GA

Did not like DP and Comtes

39

Alan, if you like creamy and fine mousse, I don’t think you’ll like Salon.

40

Have you tried other vintages of Comtes other than the '06? I get that soda pop quality in that wine too - but I am a fan of Comtes overall and found '06 to be a bit of an outlier among recent vintages.