Billecart-Salmon Clos St Hilaire 2005 (75 CL)

Wine Advocate

Disgorged at the end of 2019 with a dosage of one gram per liter, Billecart-Salmon’s 2005 Brut Le Clos Saint-Hilaire is the eighth edition (the release sequence is 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2006 and 2005; Mathieu Roland-Billecart released this vintage after the 2006, to give it more time to mature in bottle.) This 100% Pinot Noir from the single vineyard in Mareuil-sur-Aÿ has a bright, vibrant, fresh nose of orchard fruits, dried fruits, nuts, pastry and spices. The palate is tense, delicate and medium-bodied and evokes notes of white pepper and chalk with a saline finish and a gently bitter aftertaste due to the vintage. It's a little more austere than the 2006 vintage but precise and crystalline. (YC 4/2023)