Disgorged earlier this year (2018), the Salon 1997 Blanc de Blancs Le Mesnil Brut opens with a deep, intense and concentrated yet pure, fine and complex bouquet of chalk intertwined with ripe yellow-fleshed fruit, brioche and hazelnut notes. This is a bright, perfectly matured Champagne from Mesnil-sur-Oger with hints of caramel, white mushrooms, parsley root and a beautiful varnish on the nevertheless fresh nose with its characteristic chalky Mesnil expressions. The palate is full and intense, almost rich in the first moment compared the the 2007, but then the 1997 proceeds as pure, elegant and fresh as a Salon should be. Yes, there are some similarities to the 2007 in terms of finesse, with the linear, mineral and vinous style fortified by the complexity of 21 years of age. This is a really fine champagne but not as ripe as the 2007. The rigid taster will find some drying green apple phenolics in the aftertaste, but the hedonist (who doesn't look at the price) won't get that. So enjoy! Tasted from lot L93 SO 19218 MR in November 2018. - Stephan Reinhardt, November 2018

Light yellow with a slow bead. Deeply perfumed nose displays waxy orchard and pit fruit scents, along with toasty lees, woodsmoke and wet stone. Weighty pear and yellow peach flavors are given a bitter edge by fruit skin and quinine qualities, picking up salty minerals on the back end. Finishes with firm grip and powerful echoes of minerals and pear skin. This is already beginning to show complexity