A single hectare of Pinot Noir in Mareuil-sur-Aÿ became the focus of one of the most specialized events on La Fête du Champagne’s October 2026 calendar. The official program listed a Billecart-Salmon Clos Saint-Hilaire dinner with Mathieu Roland-Billecart at Sixty Three Clinton in New York on October 16, with tickets priced at $2,250 plus tax.
Rather than a broad introduction to the house, the evening was conceived around a much narrower subject: Billecart-Salmon’s single-parcel Blanc de Noirs, a wine whose first vintage was 1995 and whose production is limited to individually numbered bottles.
The confirmed details
The event appeared in La Fête du Champagne’s official New York program as:
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Event: Billecart-Salmon Clos Saint-Hilaire Dinner.
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Featured guest: Mathieu Roland-Billecart.
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Venue: Sixty Three Clinton, New York City.
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Scheduled date: Friday, October 16, 2026.
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Listed ticket price: $2,250 plus tax.
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Theme: Exploring Billecart-Salmon’s single-parcel Blanc de Noirs.
These details establish what the organizers announced. The published program does not provide a vintage-by-vintage wine list, the dinner menu, bottle formats, or a post-event account. It would therefore be premature to describe the evening as a vertical tasting, identify particular vintages as having been served, or report guests’ reactions.
Why Clos Saint-Hilaire warrants its own dinner
Clos Saint-Hilaire is unusually specific even within the upper reaches of Champagne. It comes from a single, enclosed, contiguous one-hectare parcel in Mareuil-sur-AĂż, planted with Pinot Noir in 1964.
The wine is made exclusively from that grape and vinified in oak casks. Its identity is therefore different from a prestige cuvée assembled from multiple villages and varieties: the starting point is one parcel, one grape, and the conditions of an individual harvest.
Billecart-Salmon’s history identifies 1995 as the first vintage. The house states that production varies between approximately 3,500 and 7,500 individually numbered bottles per vintage.
That scale gives the dinner’s theme substance. This was not simply an evening organized around an expensive Champagne label; the announced subject was a wine with a tightly defined origin and a limited production history.
Why Mathieu Roland-Billecart’s involvement matters
Billecart-Salmon traces its foundation to the marriage of Nicolas François Billecart and Elisabeth Salmon in 1818. Mathieu Roland-Billecart represents the seventh generation of the family.
His participation connected the event’s vineyard focus with the family history behind it. Clos Saint-Hilaire is particularly suited to that perspective: the house’s account describes the parcel as a park-like space beside the family home before its potential as a dedicated Pinot Noir vineyard was developed.
The wine’s story is not simply agricultural. It is also a record of a family recognizing the possibilities of land already within its immediate surroundings.
A telling format for American Champagne drinkers
The most interesting aspect of the announcement is its concentration. An entire dinner was devoted to exploring a single-parcel Blanc de Noirs rather than presenting Champagne merely as an opening glass.
That format creates room for the questions serious collectors increasingly bring to Champagne: how vineyard identity survives barrel vinification, what extended cellar aging contributes, and how a wine’s texture changes its place at the table.
The ticket price alone cannot answer those questions, nor can it be treated as a measure of the wine’s value. It covered an event experience, not a retail bottle. But the program offers a concrete example of Champagne being presented to an American audience with the level of attention usually reserved for a great Burgundian vineyard.
The takeaway
The verified story is the announced dinner and its unusually focused premise. Without a published wine list or event report, the details inside the glasses remain unconfirmed.
What is clear is why Clos Saint-Hilaire makes a compelling subject: a small enclosed vineyard, old Pinot Noir vines, barrel vinification, and a family history that gives the wine context beyond scarcity. For collectors, those are more useful starting points than prestige alone.
Sources: La FĂŞte du Champagne, Champagne Billecart-Salmon
