WINE OF THE YEAR Salon
2012 Cuvee S, Le Mesnil Blanc de Blancs Brut, France
This is one of the rarer champagnes, with just 5,000 cases produced. It’s also one of the most prized, and not just for its scarcity. It’s always hand-picked and always a Blanc de Blancs, meaning it’s made with 100 per cent Chardonnay (considered by many connoisseurs to be the highest expression of champagne). As happens at most of the other premium houses, Salon’s president, Didier Depond, decides to make Salon Le Mesnil only in years with superlative conditions. This wine comes from one tiny grand cru, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, claiming the region’s highest concentration of limestone beneath its white-chalk soils. The 2012 growing season was one of extremes in Champagne. While the vintage was stated to have been better for red champagne grapes, this sparkler is proof that greatness rises from adversity. After a season plagued by too much rain, too much heat and barely enough grapes, Depond declared there would be no 2012 vintage but changed his mind as he watched the wine mature. Those limestone, chalk and marine-fossil soils lend minerality to the grapes, while cool nights provide the perfect conditions to retain Chardonnay’s acidity and freshness. Aromas of baked apples, rose petals and brioche prepare the palate for flavours of caramelised pineapple, Bartlett pear and oyster shell backed by bold acidity.
BORDEAUX Château Lafite Rothschild
2018, Pauillac, Bordeaux, France
Released in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Rothschild family’s acquisition of Château Lafite in 1868, the Château Lafite Rothschild 2018 is bottled with the playful addition of a hot-air balloon on its familiar label. The
