Champagne Salon 1997 750ml

Salon calls 1997 'a sensuality of silk', the 36th vintage from a house that released only 37 in the entire twentieth century.

The house's own record of the year reads like a weather diary: winter and spring swung between mild spells and hard cold, flowering began in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger on 11 June, and the summer was hot and dry. Picking started on 22 September under summery days and cold evenings, which Salon credits for the acidity that still carries the wine. William Kelley of The Wine Advocate (as quoted by Bordeaux Index) suspects the fruit was picked a touch early given the botrytis pressure of 1997, and adds that time has been very kind to it. Didier Depond became president of Salon and Delamotte in November 1997, so this was the first wine of his tenure.

Everything comes from one village: the single-hectare Jardin de Salon and nineteen small plots in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger chosen by Eugène-Aimé Salon early in the twentieth century, about fifteen hectares in all according to Luc Corporation, the Japanese importer, which describes mid-slope, east-facing parcels with shallow topsoil over chalk. The base wine is made entirely in stainless steel, malolactic conversion is deliberately avoided, and dosage is held to around 5 g/L, after which the bottles rest for at least ten years before release.

The house has handled its stock unusually. Kelley notes that Salon kept back large reserves and has been disgorging them gradually; a 2018 disgorgement carried 3.5 g/L of dosage, somewhat less than the original release. Wine Kingdom reported from a 2024 lunch with Depond in Paris that the 1997 stood out from the 2002 and 2013 for its acidity and freshness after twenty-five years. Production is roughly 60,000 bottles per vintage; Japan takes the largest allocation, about 30% of exports.

In the glass

Salon describes the 1997 as a pale, lustrous gold with a fine mousse, its minerality set against white flowers, acacia and hawthorn, then a salty note of bread crust, brioche, green apple and hazelnut, the mousse softening to a caress on the palate. Kelley (The Wine Advocate, 95 points, March 2021, as quoted by Bordeaux Index) found honeycomb, orange rind and burnt marmalade on a bottle disgorged in 2020, medium to full-bodied, taut and chiseled for the vintage with racy acids, and judged the 1997 more consistent bottle to bottle than the 1996.

When to open

Salon advises serving slightly chilled at 13 to 15 C. Kelley's drinking window is 2020 to 2033 for recent disgorgements (as quoted by Bordeaux Index); Berry Bros. & Rudd gives 2007 to 2031.

At the table

The house suggests rare but simple dishes: scallop carpaccio, steamed lobster with spring vegetables, fine Parma ham, or the heart of a 36-month parmesan.

Quick facts

Provenance

Sourced from the Japanese importer.

Sources: Champagne Salon; Luc Corporation (Japanese importer); bottle label; Berry Bros. & Rudd; The Wine Advocate (W. Kelley, as quoted by Bordeaux Index and Jeroboams); JancisRobinson.com (as quoted by Bordeaux Index); Wine Kingdom (Aug 2024)