The Finest Champagne of 2015—At Half the Price

2015 Billecart-Salmon Rosé Champagne ($119.99)

The only straight vintage rosé from the masters of the style—aside from their inaugural 2010 release. This cuvée is composed of 52% Chardonnay sourced from the grand crus of Le Mesnil, Avize, Cramant, and Chouilly, and 48% Pinot Noir from Ambonnay, Mareuil, Verzenay, Aÿ, and Verzy. The red wine component hails from ancient vines in the Valleofois vineyard, located adjacent to the legendary Clos des Goisses in Mareuil. Aged an astounding 100 months on the lees and finished with a low dosage of just 4.7g/L, this rosé showcases vibrant black cherry Pinot fruit alongside a deep chalk-driven core. Never heavy-handed, always refined—this is a benchmark expression of just how profound rosé Champagne can be.

Lilia McIntosh | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: June 03, 2025

This is a real treat from Billecart-Salmon! The complexity of this Champagne is stunning. It has gorgeous aromatics of raspberry coulis, fresh wild strawberries and a touch of tulip. Palate is expressive with berries note lingering on and saline minerality backing it up. It's long and mouthwatering on the finish. Definitely opening up with more nuances as it decants itself in your glass. Great Champagne to enjoy slowly, letting it unwrap itself like a flower.

Craig Morris | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: May 25, 2025

For me, Billecart makes one of the best non-vintage rose sparklers out there with their Le Rose, so I was very excited when our Champagne buyer Gary Westby opened a bottle of this 2015 vintage for the staff and it did not disappoint. This bottle has such a depth and intensity. It is at once savory and complex, but also bursting with juicy fruit, all with the chalky minerality one expects from Champagne...and for a shockingly low price tag. Champagne fans or those needing something for a special occasion need to pick this up!

Michael Benoit | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: May 22, 2025

Representing the best the 2015 vintage has to offer, this new bottling from Billecart-Salmon is only the second time they've produced a vintage edition of their standard rose champagne. Aromas of ripe cherries, marzipan, and a touch of honey make for a beautifully expressive, complex nose. On the palate, I was surprised to find a subtle layer of pain au levain toast, giving way to flavors of juicy Bing cherry, Satsuma orange, and underripe strawberry. This champagne is bright, mouthwatering, and complex, and has a finish that goes on for days, revealing flashes of different flavors as you savor each sip. An absolute treat, and shockingly well-priced for what's in the bottle!

Aaron Hughes | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: May 22, 2025

This is absolutely glorious, coming from what would normally be the Cuvee Elizabeth from Billecart-Salmon, but their choosing to declassify it give us the best 2015 Champagne I've ever tasted and probably the best Champagne I've tasted so far this year. The nose after opening for a little while is full of plump alpine strawberries, white plum flesh, blood orange zest, the middle of a loaf of fresh brioche, and a whisper of hyacinths. The palate unfathomably dense and deep, the fruit is spritely and bright with white strawberry, blood orange pith, and a little bit of green apple. This is not just a Champagne, this is an experience. This is something you want to sit and dig into the whole time, slowly peeling it back layer by layer, and every time you think you have it figured out something else comes to the forefront. This is like the best book you've ever read, the one that made you just turn page after page after page until you had finished it, and then when you were done you felt like something was taken from you. This bottle is a transcendent magical portal that will take you into a newer and better future, because you'll have had this bottle.