Salon Le Mesnil, 2008 Oenotheque Assortment Case
Salon is the most exclusive and esteemed Champagne of all the leading prestige cuvees, something which is reflected in both historical scores and the price, the latter of which is driven upward by huge demand and extremely limited supply. Never has this supply been more stretched than in 2008, the house deciding to uniquely release the entire vintage in the form of 8,000 magnums, a fraction of the usual 60,000 bottles in other vintages.
Salon has also made their finest ever wine in this already legendary vintage – the 2008 has received a perfect score from Galloni, whose praise is truly emphatic. He writes; “It is quite simply one of the most magnificent Champagnes I have ever tasted”. William Kelley also awards 100 Points, holding the wine “to the highest possible standards” as he suggests that “it surpasses even the prodigious 1996 and surely ranks as the finest Salon since at least the 1970s”
NV Salon Le Mesnil, 2008 Oenotheque Assortment Case 1x600cl
The 2008 Magnums were exclusively released from Salon as part of an extremely collectable boxed set presented in a specially designed wooden case, containing:
- 2 bottles of 2004
- 2 bottles of 2006
- 2 bottles of 2007
- 1 magnum of the 100 point-winning 2008.
All were disgorged in 2019 for this release, lending these library vintages an even more extraordinary level of freshness and complexity alongside the prized 2008 magnum.
To understand just how rare Salon is, see below a comparison against some of the other leading prestige cuvees. Dom Perignon dwarfs the others at 4,000,000, with Cristal also producing considerably more at 350,000 bottles. Salon produces less than Krug in the average vintage, but in order to produce a perfect wine in 2008 they reduced to just 36% – the selection was painstaking! Furthermore, Salon has only been produced in 38 vintages over the last century, making the 100 point 2008 Magnum release even more of a must have collector’s item.
More on Salon
Salon Le Mesnil is recognised along with Krug Clos du Mesnil and Cristal as the greatest Crus Champagne in the world. Salon is unique, created in the early 1900s as an inimitable concept: a single grape variety, Chardonnay, from a single terrior in the single village Le-Mesnil-sur-Oger, the same 100% Grand Cru vineyard that Krug’s Clos du Mesnil is derived. Salon is the quintessential blanc de blanc, the connoisseur’s Champagne and globally sought after. Salon however, is only made in tiny quantities, with less than 50,000 bottles produced when a vintage is declared. Salon only released 37 vintages in the 20th century; an average of three a decade…