Billecart-Salmon invests in terroir

By Andrew Catchpole

Published: 10 February, 2017

Ahead of its 200^th anniversary next year, Champagne Billecart-Salmon has outlined ambitious plans to double its vineyard ownership in the next 10 to 20 years

Ahead of its 200^th anniversary next year, Champagne Billecart-Salmon has outlined ambitious plans to double its vineyard ownership in the next 10 to 20 years.

To mark its entry into a third century of production, Antoine Roland-Billecart says the family-owned House will also be releasing in 2018 "specific bottlings, which we've been making since 2011, talking about cepage and vineyard regions in Champagne", as part of a wider and renewed focus on communicating the character and qualities of the region's varied terroir.

"We want to control more of our production, 50% of the vines we work with, and this is our goal over the next 10 to 20 years," Roland-Billecart told harpers.co.uk. "Money costs nothing in Europe at the moment, so it is a good time to invest.

Roland-Billecart added that parcels of vines in grand cru and top premier cru sites would continue to come to market, stressing the importance of "ensuring the quality of the raw material" as demand and thus competition between the Champagne houses continues to drive up prices for the best grapes.

"We want to keep the integrity of individual parcels of vines, and our luxury is that we can take the time to do that," he continued. "Maybe we are swimming against the stream, but we have been working like this for generations."

Billecart-Salmon employs many biodynamic principles in its own vineyards and those that it controls, with Roland-Billecart saying that much of the damage wrought on Champagne's soils in the past (famously, the waste of Paris used to be used as 'fertilizer') has now been reversed and the vines are far healthier across the region.

"Others may be looking and investing in sparkling wine around the world and in England, but we want to focus purely on Champagne and making the best wine we can in our own region," said Roland-Billecart.

Roland-Billecart refused to be further drawn on the exact nature of the special bottlings for release in 2018. But the company is quietly innovating in other ways, too, investing in 25hl foudres, looking to evolve the subtle barrel-fermented element in several of its wines, and looking to communicate more the connection between the varied terroir and the elements that make up each blended cuvee.

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