I recently had the rare and privileged company of Antoine. As the scion of the esteemed Billecart-Salmon, one of the last family-owned Champagne houses, Antoine’s visit to Hong Kong marked his first return to the city in five years. Over a lively conversation, he unveiled a world of effervescence and heritage, sharing his efforts to revive “lost grape” varieties of champagne, navigating pandemic and and impacts of global warming.
The House of Billecart-Salmon is one of the few family owned Champagne Houses – a rarity. Antoine’s life has been destined for Champagne – he has been Commandeur of the Ordre des Coteaux de Champagnes in the past – a role which he carried out with much élan & finesse. He also represents the 6th generation of an illustrious Champagne House which carries his family name – a House which proudly celebrated its 200th anniversary in 2018.
There are three generations present at Billecart-Salmon. Antoine manages the estate with 7th generation Mathieu Roland-Billecart. Antoine’s father at 100 years old, still has a sip of champagne every day and is part of the tasting team.
Billecart-Salmon’s Brut Rosé is a benchmark for Champagne aficionados. Surprisingly, it’s a non-macerated rosé containing more chardonnay than pinot noir. There’s a long cold maceration on the pinot noir and unusually, there are 15 ha of vines devoted just to make still pinot noir as a wine with low yields for colour, and low tannins. Its a very specific of working the pinot noir that is very important that other Houses do not follow. “It is a champagne rosé not a rosé champagne!” says Antoine emphasizes.
Recovering from COVID-19
The world changed much during the three years of the pandemic and affected everyone’s lives and livelihoods. At Billecart-Salmon, Antoine found that the biggest issue for his family’s business was that people were not drinking as much of his Champagnes – volumes were down dramatically in all markets.
He used this period to rebuild and enhance his cellars and tasting room. With so much stock on hand, it provided an ample opportunity to further improve on Billecart-Salmon’s reserve wines that are used for Brut Réserve and Brut Rosé. In Antoine’s opinion, it gave his house the time to further cellar their Champagnes before sending them out in the world for people to enjoy.
To quote Antoine’s optimism, “The world did not fall down! We had time to concentrate on enhancing quality for our vines and blending was enhanced as we have more older reserve wines on hand.” His biggest change – lower dosage on Brut Réserve – not in terms of style but improved quality.
At Billecart-Salmon, the opportunity was to consolidate stock – holding more stock to extend ageing prior to disgorgement. Previously, stock was on hand for 24 – 26 months, and now they hold it for 30 months in their cellars – a significant improvement which they hope to continue with. They also added 26 big oak vats to the cellars to hold reserve wines.
Going against the grain during the COVID19 period, the family also added more staff and vignerons (now totalling 30) for their vineyards to ensure that from pruning to harvest, all was under their control as they have currently 125 ha of vineyards.
Global Warming
On this hot topic, Antoine was most eloquent.
Climate change will of course change and affect the vines that have been in Champagne. His view is that for the vines, the timing from shoot in spring to harvest will be shorter. “Today, from flowering to grape, it is averaging around 80 days. In the past, it was 90 to 100 days. I believe that the vines are intelligent and will adapt to change. A vine is like a garden – we just need to be here to help them do their best. Terroir is terroir, it doesn’t matter that there is a difference of one or two degrees’.
At Billecart-Salmon, they are going forward to embrace bio-dynamic in all their vineyards following what they have been doing at Clos St Hilaire for 15 years.
Other changes include bee hives strategically placed in vineyards to enhance pollination and flowering as part of their sustainable ecosystem. This practice began at Clos St Hilaire with hives made from barrels previously used to store champagnes.
In addition to the holy trinity of Champagne grapes (Chardonnay, Pinot Nor, Pinot Meunier), the house has been bringing back the ‘lost grapes of Champagne’ which are Arbanne, Petit Meslier, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris, as well as Voltis – a newly approved grape for planting. There are no ‘lost grapes’ present currently on any of their vineyards.
The Future
For the future, Billecart-Salmon’s goals are to acquire more vines, more land, consolidate holdings, and standardize operations for more control at each stage. Remaining independent is vital for the family. “To ensure a good vine is to ensure a good wine,” says Antoine.
New things to come? A new vineyard in the Loire Valley, a personal investment in a water venture – a naturally sparkling water. A new venture into South America is also on the cards.
When asked what he would do if not born into the Champagne world, Antoine mused, “It would be something liquid! I would be a brewer in the north of France, where my maternal grandparents were brewers. The smell of fermentation was my first memory as a child.”
Plenty of ideas!
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