Henri Billiot Fils Brut Rose NV

 
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International Wine Cellars 90 points

SKU: 15544
Size: 750ml


List Price: $52.99

Sale Price: $46.99

Review:Pale salmon skin color. Complex nose combines strawberry preserves, ginger, molasses, nutmeg, flowers and earth. Bright, penetrating flavors of strawberry, raspberry and flowers, with complicating notes of smoke and minerals. Some juicy but slightly raw acidity calls for a bit more bottle aging. A dense, saline Champagne with noteworthy flavor authority and length. - Tanzer

This is the same base wine as the Brut Réserve; thus it’s 50% 2001 and 25% each 2000 and 1999. He adds ten year old red wine to confer depth. I found the wine deceptively pretty; it smells like a June picnic basket, but on the palate it’s silky, gauzy, detailed and sleek, with tertiary notes of leaf-smoke and lavender. It’s significantly more youthful and frisky but also cornbread-y and lush.