First taste masterclass: Billecart-Salmon's Elisabeth Salmon Rosé 2008

While Billecart-Salmon makes a wide range of excellent Champagnes, for many people it’s most strongly associated with its rosé.

In fact, Billecart-Salmon has been making rosé Champagne for a notably long time, almost since the house was founded in 1818. ‘We don’t have an exact date, but we’ve been making rosé since at least 1840,’ says Mathieu Roland-Billecart, the house’s CEO. ‘We know that, because we have labels from that time saying oeil de perdrix, which was the old name, and also letters from customers asking for our ‘tinted’ Champagne.’

Scroll down for Peter Liem’s tasting notes and scores for Elisabeth Salmon Rosé 2008 and the NV Rosé

Rosé takes off

However, rosé was not historically a very common or popular style of Champagne, and as it was largely made by macerating red grapes, it often had a reputation for being heavy and tannic.

‘It wasn’t until the 1960s that my great-uncle Jean decided to make a rosé with the finesse and elegance that is a signature of our house today, and as part of this he moved away from the maceration technique to the blended technique,’ explains Roland-Billecart.

‘Still, rosé was not really a focus for people, and it took some time for the house’s rosé to get noticed. It was only really in the 1990s, when the chefs in Paris, plus some of the top names in the US, started saying, “Look, even if you don’t like rosé, you have to try this one”.’