Text by: Gleb King
In Champagne, where many historic names have long been absorbed by global groups, Billecart-Salmon stands apart — a house that has remained family-owned and defiantly independent for more than two centuries. Founded in 1818 in Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, it continues to be guided by the Billecart family’s pursuit of purity, precision, and elegance. Representing the house abroad for over a decade, Clément Calleja speaks with the calm conviction of someone who knows the secret is not glamour but patience: time is the greatest luxury, he says, and the true boss of the house is the wine itself. In this conversation, He reflects on the enduring philosophy behind Billecart-Salmon’s finesse-driven Champagnes, the quiet discipline that defines its cellar, and how experimentation — from oak fermentation to solera aging — keeps a two-hundred-year-old maison looking forward. From the gastronomic style that makes its wines at home on the table, to new projects like the 2015 vintage rosé and the oak-fermented Sous Bois, he explains why humility, balance, and curiosity are still the most modern ideas in Champagne.
Photo courtesy: champagne-billecart.fr
Billecart-Salmon has remained family-owned for more than 200 years, which is rare in Champagne today. Why is it so important for you to preserve this independence, and how does being family-run influence your long-term vision and the way you make decisions compared to larger corporate-owned houses?
We're actually the oldest continuously family-owned champagne house. From 1818 to today it’s 207 years. We’re still within the same branch of the same family and that is, like you said, very unique. A lot of other historical houses may have sold or changed ownership a few times, but here – there is consistency, there is heritage and there is a know-how that's been transmitted, passed along seven generations. Mathieu Billecart, who is the current CEO, took over in 2018, so he's the seventh generation and that is amazing to see, because each generation obviously has a different energy, adding to the construction something different and new. The goal of Mathieu, from his word – is to make the best possible wine, to have no compromise on quality, to always seek for excellence.
Every day we ask ourselves – how can we be better? And because we're within this kind of microcosm of the family and not having to report to, you know, a corporation, a bank or a marketing, advertising-driven company, we can really stay focused. There are hundreds of little things that we do – we don't need to make a fuss about it. We try to improve at every single point – in the vineyards, in the selection of the vineyards, in how we make wine, in working in small parcels, in experimenting with vessels, in dealing with food, in identifying which parcels go into which type of barrels, in blind tastings…
On the other hand – when you have a family ownership, you're probably more fragile than a larger established corporation. You have to be really, really, really focused and dedicated to the vision you have. You can’t lose that focus and humbleness, the humility. You have to keep working hard every day with those little things, that's how you can try to stay relevant and hopefully make amazing Champagne. That's what this winery, which I've been honored to represent the last 13 years, is about.
In your words, what defines the “classic” Billecart-Salmon style today? What are its pillars – vineyards, winemaking techniques, aging practices?
The style of the Billecart, if you had to make a simple answer – is connected to gastronomy. We make wines of Champagne for the table, for food. We don't want Champagne that is going to stand in the way of the chefs, the cuisine, the ingredients. Instead, we want a wine that's going to shine and make everything merge together. So the style of the house, in that regard, is all about freshness. We want our Champagne to be fresh. It's all about fruit, meaning we're very, very much careful and obsessed with the quality of the fruit. Not in terms of sugar, but in terms of purity and expression, finesse. So our Champagnes are really refined, very fresh, very delicate and most importantly – balanced because that's the most difficult thing to do is balance.
In Champagne for the most part you blend different terroirs, grapes, vintages – that's all about achieving that balance. And that goes from the vineyard. To have the top quality grapes you need the best terroir. So we're very, very focused on the Grand Crus, the 1-er Crus. Then within those terroirs, you have to identify which are the parcels that check all the boxes to work in line with the style that we talked about.
The Clos Saint-Hilaire. Photo courtesy: champagne-billecart.fr
How have vineyard and winemaking practices changed over time, especially in response to environmental concerns?
Today, there's a leading force in Champagne with sustainable viticulture. We have 10 hectares today that are biodynamic and 100 hectares of organic. Of course we've gotten away from chemicals many years ago. That is very important – to have the purity of the fruit, which is going to also translate the terroir and the soil and that specific parcel into the wine. And then, in terms of winemaking, we use time. And that's the most amazing thing that you can have as an independent house – the time. Because time is the greatest luxury. You can have as much financing as you want, you can buy and build the best winery, hire the most talented winemaker and have the best vineyards... But if you don't take the time to make everything come together, it doesn't work. Luckily, the time is given by the family to the wine.
The wine is the boss. The actual boss of the house is the wine itself. Because all the decisions are made blind. So, if you don't take the time to make all the little things – the little decisions in the vineyards, in the winemaking room, in the tank room, in the barrel room – then it doesn't make sense. We don't like to add a lot of sugar, a lot of dosage. All of our wines today are Extra Brut, very low in sugar. And the reason we do that, again, is not dogmatic, it's the result of the journey. The top vineyards, the top wine growing, the long time winemaking, the cold fermentation, then taking the time to age.
In previous interviews, there were mentions of extended aging, increased use of oak, reduced dosage, and other experimental directions. Could you expand on the motivations behind these innovations?
Mathieu Billecart is really, really a leading force in that, and very open to trying new things. He and Florent Nys – Chef de cave – are working hand-on-hand since 2018, and one of the big projects in that regard was our non-vintage Billecart-Salmon Le Réserve, which has seen, in the last five years, an increase of one year of aging which is a very difficult thing to do on the non-vintage, which is usually the number one produced cuvée. So that was a big move. The lower dosage comes as a result of that.
Then there are those little things that we do – from the vineyards, from the quality of the parcels – the parcel-by-parcel fermentation, the longer aging… We've identified, for example, that specific parcels work pretty well in specific types of barrels, and now we can use that knowledge in some of our non-vintage, like Le Réserve. So this wine – even though the blend itself is the same – with a majority of Pinot Meunier, has on the back end more reserve wines.
We're also playing and experimenting with Solera – you know, perpetual reserve tanks. And then you have seen, obviously, a little bit of barrel, and longer aging. So all these things are just results of experimentation.
We're not trying dogmatically, or as an obsession, to make Extra Brut, or to make super low dosage wine. But it's just what makes sense, It's right. Thanks to all these other experiments and changes and evolution we've had in the wines, we don't need much dosage.
And also, there is a small percentage of that that is due to global warming, where, you know, now compared to 20 years ago, there is a little more ripeness in the grape. We have to harvest a little earlier, and the dosage levels just naturally have gone down throughout the region.
Can you share details about your newest cuvées or upcoming releases? What sets them apart from your classic range?
Billecard Salmon is quite well known for rosés, especially non-vintage rosé. But we have another wine which is exclusive to the US market – Le Rosé 2015. Elisabeth Salmon rosé is our most well-known prestige cuvee and it’s only the second time in the history of the house that we have released a vintage rosé that is not Elisabeth Salmon rosé. We make two rosés, right, a non-vintage and Elisabeth. And what happened in 2015 is the tasting committee, blindly, thought that this bottle, which at harvest 2015, in early 2016, was approved to be a candidate and to age in the shoes of potential Elisabeth Salmon, was aging a little faster and was showing a little more fruitiness, because 2015 was a warm year, a little more fruitiness than spiciness, which is kind of what we expect from Elisabeth Salmon, and also aging faster than the 2012 and the 2013. So we made the tough call to declassify this cuvee. So essentially in the bottle is what would have been or could have been Elisabeth Salmon 2015, with a blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, about half and half, and a little bit of red wine for the color, Pinot Noir from 90 year old vines. But, you know, we decided to still release it as a declassified vintage rosé, because there's nothing wrong with the wine. The wine is absolutely delicious, but it doesn't have, we think, the aging potential that we would expect from Elisabeth. So as a result, it creates a one-off opportunity of what, in my opinion, is one of the top values. And that's something these days you can talk about – because of all, you know, inflationary forces with tariffs and exchanges, etc. This wine is one of the greatest values to be found in the entire region right now, and in the vintage 2015.
Brut Sous Bois.
Please say a few words about your Brut Sous Bois
“Sous Bois” means “under wood”. It’s 100% barrel fermented. We essentially work in a neutral barrel, we don’t want to oak the wine – the style of the house is all about balance, so we don’t want to have something heavy or oaky. We don’t want vanilla, we don’t want coconut. What we do want is an oxidation of a barrel, we are looking for spice. We get further from the “bubbles” to get more texture and shoulder, to compare it with food. It’s something that can handle steak, it can handle fattiness, spiciness. We have just received it in California – it’s 2018 base and in the back end we have solera as well. There are about 10 harvests in the bottle from 2006 to 2017, with a base of 2018.
How do you balance your house identity with the market’s demand for freshness, immediacy, or new trends?
Thankfully our wines today are probably in line with the appetite for drier wines. And that's not what's been driving this change for us. But it happens to be, you know, not too far away from that trend. So, yeah, immediacy because the wine's already freshness because that's the style. And then, you know, transparency and lower sugar. That's something that's already part of the kind of the movement that's been changing that's been happening on the back end of retail for the last 10 years.
Are data and digital technologies playing a growing role in your vineyard or cellar management?
On the back of every bottle you have this six digit code where, as a consumer or as a sommelier or as a retailer, as a collector, you can look up online and you have the DNA of that specific bottle. So it's the passport with the ID with as much information you might want to know – in full transparency. So from the grapes, the villages, the different years in the non-vintage, the dosage level, the amount of sugar, when was it disgorged, etc. And this all comes from a will of transparency of the house because I think new consumers are very educated about Champagne and very curious
The cellars. Photo courtesy: champagne-billecart.fr
How do you see the future of Champagne—stylistically and culturally—and how is Billecart-Salmon preparing for it?
Well, I'm not a philosopher, so it's hard for me to delve into too much. But from my humble opinion, I think we're fortunate in Champagne compared to some other regions. For many years, for centuries, Champagne has been associated with celebration, with special moments, with meaningful moments in life. And I think the region, even though we hear a lot of doom and gloom in the industry and some factual data about diminishing consumption of alcohol, less interest from newer generations… I think Champagne is definitely not immune to any of that, but it's probably a little more insulated. I hope it is, because it will still be there and meet you in this special moment of life.
And so it's all about trying to stay humble and work hard to make sure that the quality in the bottle is there to meet you at that special moment. So I think in that regard, I hope that Champagne will still be relevant for centuries to come. It's all about focusing on the right thing, focusing on quality, making people dream.
And also, beyond the celebration, Champagne has done an amazing job proving to be such a great food wine. And it's a versatile wine with a lot of cuisines. If you take Japanese cuisine, Champagne is one of the best things you can pair from sashimi to nigiri to uni to wagyu, or to a ramen bowl, or you can take Asian food and you take something like Sous-Bois. At the gastronomic table or at the casual table when you're having oysters or fried chicken or French fries, Champagne is also a great, great place for things like that. So in that regards, I really hope it will always still be relevant.
And the future of Champagne is bright and bubbly. And at least that's our role to continue to share the enthusiasm and the love we have for the region and in our case for our family wines.
