4 May 2011: I decided to treat myself to a rather extravagant (for me anyway!) champagne tasting dinner! And luck would have it that Paul came to my rescue and signed up as my date for the dinner, as Julie (wife) was busy, to save me from looking like a miserable geek, sitting by myself! I wanted to come to this tasing because my only experience of Salon was a rather oxidised bottle of 1982 and I wanted to gain some perspective on the greatness of Salon......what made it deserve its reputation and prestige, etc. The dinner organised by Altaya Wines took place at Spoon at the Intercontinental Hotel in HK. Richard's a big fan of Spoon's but I had yet to be converted. The chef's cooking this evening succeeded - a lot of thought had gone into matching every dish with each of the champagnes of the evening, and the result was spectacular, or pretty close! Every dish was presented with such taste and harmony. The marriage with the champagne was immaculate.
The evening began with an aperitif of Delamotte Brut Non-Vintage, which provided a refreshing start to the evening, albeit rather simple and unexciting. After a few amuse-bouches of spinach pastries, mushroom tarts and foie-gras toast, the tasting began and following is the sequence of the champagne that was served (and the culinary creations too!):
2002 Delamotte Blanc de Blancs - Chilled Lobster-Caviar Consummé
Predominantly citrus and grapefruit, with some ripe pear notes coming through. Good minerality, with some smokey and toasty character. Showing more precision, finesse and purity than the 1999. Great mid palate and lovely finish. 17/20
1999 Delamotte Blanc de Blancs - Frog's legs "Meunière" style, gnocchis, watercres sauce
The bubbles were rather aggressive initially. An altogether different style to the 2002. The 1999 seemed more rounded, richer in style and much more upfront in character. Slightly weightier than the 2002. Nutty, smokey and earthier. Perfect with the frog's legs! 16/20
1999 Salon - Filet of Seabass, green asparagus tips and crayfish
Vibrant and fresh, full of energy, harmony and precision. Floral, apple, acacia, slowly revealing the smokey, stony minerality and slightly savoury, mushroomy character, underlined with just a hint of brioche. A gorgeous wine, perfectly balanced, creamy mousse and totally harmonious! 18.5/20
1997 Salon - Chicken breast, braised morel mushrooms, Arbois yellow wine sauce
This wine came across as having taken on a lot more years than the apparent 2, tasting this immediately after the 1999. A warm vintage for champagne and the character of the wine shows that. This wine seemed to me much more evolved, showing character of earthy, truffle, enriched by crème caramel character (this reminded me of the truffled crème brûlée at Bistronomique, which seemed rather disturbing at the time!). The acidity seemed more taut and distinct than in the 1999, rather less well integrated. More flamboyant and opulent. Good match with the vin jaune sauce, which was quite rich and intense! (Not a favourite of mine this evening.....) Drinking well now, but will most certainly benefit from further bottle age to continue its integration. 17.5+/20 (I think this dish would be very well-matched with one of the older vintages of Salon......perhaps I'll try that at home!)
1996 Salon - 24 month aged Comté cheese, black cereal bread crostinis, spicy cherry marmalade
Heaps and heaps of minerality here. Still in its infancy, rather shy, nervy and backward. With some time in the glass, the wine blossomed to reveal some complexity of floral, nutty, toasty and smokey notes. Showing the promise to be a great wine, but in a rather awkward place where not everything seemed fully integrated. Lingering finish. A thought-provoking wine. 19+/20
Mango, passion fruit granité (which I skipped - I am not a big fan of granité or sorbet as a palate-cleanser in the middle of a meal.)
Delamotte Rosé Non-Vintage - Rhubarb-Wild Strawberries sablé
Salmon pink colour. Fresh redfruit and savoury, but after the Salon, this lacked depth, complexity and character. Made by saignée method, predominantly Chardonnay with some Pinot Noir. A criticism (and probably my only one about the food this evening) was that the "fraises des bois" didn't quite burst with those lovely flavours that I would remember from my experience of this delightful fruit in France and the tart rhubard rather dominated!
Didier Depond, the President of Salon and Delamotte, was at the dinner and he came round to our table a couple of times to talk to us, which added a more personal touch to the evening. I think Didier did answer my question of why Salon should be treated with such respect and admiration. Salon only declared 37 vintages in the last century, with the 1999 vintage the 37th and last vintage they declared. All the vines come from one Grand Cru vineyard, Le Mesnil- sur-Oger. Fermentation in tank - no oak. Ageing on the lees would invariably exceed the minimum requirement of 10 years for Salon (6 years for Delamotte). (Paul sent me a link that pointed an earlier discussion between a champagne collector and Didier on a different occasion and he had learnt that ever since Didier took over, he had put in place the custom of successive disgorgements for each vintage, that there would be 7 disgorgements per vintage, at intervals of 6 months. I guess only Didier would know that secret code as to the disgorgement for each bottle!) Production of Salon is very small - only 50,000 bottles would be produced for every declared vintage. (Delamotte is something like 10 times bigger.) When the grapes are deemed not good enough for a Salon vintage, then they would be sent to Delamotte, for the making of the Blanc de Blancs. So one could say for example the 2000 vintage of Delamotte could be a super Delamotte, as there's no Salon declared for that vintage! He spoke of Salon almost as an atelier, the "loft" of a "grand maître, rather than a champagne house. Every bottle is a masterpiece, a work of art that epitomises the love, passion and respect of the men and women behind it. As to the style of Salon, can one say there is a unique style? Perhaps it is one defined by exceptional finesse, purity, precision and timeless elegance? Salon is to be enjoyed at different times of its life, once it's had its full 10 years of ageing. It is a wine (more than a champagne) that ages gracefully and it is with age that one identifies with the timeless harmony and elegance with Salon.
I think the 82 bottle I had previously was definitely one of those variations as mentioned in the link that Paul sent me. It talked about Salon bottles showing rather a bit of variability in the 80's and earlier (pre 1990), but it was certainly reassuring to hear about those great bottles of Salon ever enjoyed, including 76,79,82 (when you get a good bottle) and 1990.
As a reflection on the dinner at Spoon, it certainly enlightened me and prepared me for the great things to come and I remain waiting for my SALON moment!
