Home › Wine Notes › Billecart-Salmon
Billecart-Salmon Brut Rosé Champagne NV
Sparkling roséFranceNV
By Daniel Min · Tasted 2022-05-17 · Published 2026-09-30 · Updated 2026-09-30
At a glance
In one line
4.5/5 — higher than Vivino's 4.4 average · world avg price US$160 · A Champagne house born of an 1818 marriage between two families.
Wine-Searcher aggregate of 46 critic reviews: 91. Vivino lists several unattributed critic scores between 86 and 90.
Market note: World average US$160 / 750ml (Wine-Searcher, ex-tax, Sep 2026). At the time of checking no overseas retail listings appeared (only domestic Korean sellers, excluded). The house's Brut Rosé Vintage averages US$118 (92) and its Brut Réserve US$70 (90).
Father's note — Daniel Min
Original author of the notes“빌까르 살몽의 20% 가량 로제를 만들 정도로 로제 맛집이라 하여 중식과 함께 오픈. 얼마전 감명 깊게 먹은 돔 05 로제 처럼 숙성은 없지만 정말 잘 블렌딩된 로제인듯 첫 느낌은 블랑누아에 가깝고 이후에 로제 아로마가 두드러지게 나타남. 가성비 괜찮은데 숙성 되면 더 맛있겠는데. 이후에 밀레짐 먹어봐야겠다.”
Show original
“빌까르 살몽의 20% 가량 로제를 만들정도로 로제맛집이라하여 중식과 함께 오픈!! 얼마전 감명 깊게 먹은 돔05로제 처럼 숙성은 없지만 정말 잘 블랜딩된 로제인듯 첫느낌은 블랑누아에 가깝고 이후에 로제아로마가 두드러 지게 나타남. 가성비 괜찮은데 숙성 되면 더맛있겠는데.. 이후에 밀레짐 먹어봐야겠당.”
Without the colour, I could see the order of the scents.
Monday, and the bar was quiet. When I switched on the sign and came in, Master Seo had set a black glass on the counter. Black glass you couldn't see into at all. All I could hear was the small crackle of bubbles. 'Tonight, drink it without the colour. Let your nose speak first.'
The first scent was fresh bread crust and white apple. I was about to write down 'a white Champagne' when I gave the glass one swirl and strawberry rose up from behind. Underripe raspberry, a little grapefruit peel. White first, then red. That order opened the kitchen table in May, when I was twenty-three.
Twenty-three, a Tuesday night in the third week of May. Delivered Chinese food was spread across the table: sweet-and-sour pork, jajangmyeon, and the oyster-sauce stir-fry Mum likes. Dad came in with a bottle wrapped in cloth and said this one had to be tried with Chinese food. When he poured, I could see a pale pink. On the first sip I said it tasted like a white Champagne at first; a good while later, over the sweet-and-sour pork, I said the strawberry was coming out now. Dad put down his chopsticks and wrote the two remarks down, one after the other. Mum only said the colour was pretty. I don't know the name of the bottle.
In the notebook, that date had one long line. He'd opened it with Chinese food because the house was said to be good at rosé. 'The first impression is close to blanc de noirs, then the rosé aromas.' No sense of age, but a well-blended rosé; next time he should try a vintage bottle. Four and a half stars. The bottle was Billecart-Salmon Brut Rosé. I stuck on the wine-name Post-it. Probably Dad put down his chopsticks because my two remarks came in the same order as his note.
Handing back the black glass, I told Master Seo it had been white first, then red. All he said was, 'Right. But that's half of it.' Minjae, in the next seat, asked about the other half for me.
After closing, at the end of the counter, I opened page forty-eight of the new notebook. In the scent column: 'bread crust, white apple → raspberry, grapefruit peel.' I drew one arrow. Without the colour, I could see the order of the scents.
What this wine is
In 1818, in the Champagne village of Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, Nicolas François Billecart married Elisabeth Salmon, and a Champagne house bearing both family names was born. Nicolas handled the business; Elisabeth's brother Louis Salmon looked after the grapes and the winemaking (house website). Today Mathieu Roland-Billecart, born in 1981, leads it as the seventh generation, and it remains one of the few houses still in family hands (Wikipedia).
The rosé came from Jean Roland-Billecart, of the fifth generation. In 1958 he introduced cold settling of the juice before fermentation and long, low-temperature fermentations, to protect freshness and finesse. In the 1970s he used that approach to make a pale rosé with just a hint of red berries. The house website calls it a gamble, and says the gamble paid off: the rosé became the house's flagship cuvée.
One merchant's technical sheet gives 45% Chardonnay, 35% Pinot Noir and 20% Pinot Meunier, stainless-steel vinification and 36 months on the lees. The claim in my note that rosé is about 20% of the house's output is something I couldn't source this time. In 1999, the house's 1959 vintage came first in a blind tasting of 150 Champagnes (house website, Wikipedia).
What the world says
The 46 critic reviews on Wine-Searcher aggregate to 91. Vivino also lists several unattributed critic scores, between 86 and 90.
On Vivino it averages 4.4 from more than 29,000 ratings: 7,909 fives, 18,942 fours, 1,938 threes, 183 twos and 142 ones. As a non-vintage bottle it has no suggested drinking window.
"Still a great value. Amazingly consistent and marvelously delicious. Baked apples and brioche meet tart green apple acidity." — Vivino review, Dec 2019, 4.5 stars
Red fruit dominates the keywords: strawberry (1,042) and raspberry (563) lead, followed by citrus and grapefruit, apple and peach, brioche (382) and toast, cream (364) and yeast. Structure shows acidity 4.2, fizziness 4.1 and intensity 3.6 — a rosé that leans toward acidity and bubbles rather than weight.
The world average is US$160 / 750ml (Wine-Searcher, ex-tax, Sep 2026). That sits above the average for the house's vintage Brut Rosé (US$118); since no overseas sellers appeared when I checked, I couldn't tell when that average was set.
How I drank it
May 17, 2022, 4.5 stars. It's the only bottle I logged that day. Hearing that the house was good at rosé, I opened it with Chinese food.
In the note I compared it with 'the Dom Pérignon 05 rosé that moved me not long ago' — yet that bottle's Vivino entries are dated two weeks later, May 30 (twice, both 5 stars). It looks as though I logged it later than I drank it. Like that bottle it showed no age, but it was a well-blended rosé. The first impression was close to a blanc de noirs; over time, rosé-like red-berry aromas came to the fore. I noted that it was good value and would be even better with age, and ended by saying I should try the vintage bottling next.
Community 4.4, critics 91, me 4.5. All three stand in almost the same place. For a non-vintage Champagne, it's one of my higher scores. The order — starting like a white Champagne and ending in strawberry — came through clearly between the oil and sweetness of the Chinese food.
Vivino community data
NV vintage rating distribution (29114 ratings, average 4.4)
| 5★ | 7909 (27%) | |
| 4★ | 18942 (65%) | |
| 3★ | 1938 (7%) | |
| 2★ | 183 (1%) | |
| 1★ | 142 (0%) |
Most-mentioned aromas
| Family | Mentions | Top keywords |
|---|---|---|
| Red fruit | 2149 | strawberry 1042 · raspberry 563 · red fruit 210 · cherry 89 · cranberry 53 |
| Citrus | 1120 | citrus 441 · grapefruit 187 · lemon 128 · orange 98 · pink grapefruit 53 |
| Tree fruit | 870 | apple 295 · peach 208 · pear 111 · green apple 91 · apricot 69 |
| Bread & nuts | 850 | brioche 382 · toast 190 · almond 107 · biscuit 84 · nutty 34 |
| Aging & yeast | 639 | cream 364 · yeast 184 · cheese 37 · toasted bread 14 · fresh bread 9 |
Structure: Acidity 4.2/5 · Intensity 3.6/5 · Fizziness 4.1/5
Average by vintage (all vintages: 29114 ratings, average 4.4)
| Vintage | Average | Ratings |
|---|
Other wines Father scored 4.5 →
Read next
Swipe for more →
Similar styleLouis Roederer Cristal Rosé Vinothèque 2008
France · Champagne★★★★★
Similar stylePol Roger Rosé Vintage 2009
France · Champagne★★★☆☆
Similar styleCharles Clément, Brut Rosé (NV)
France · Champagne★★★★☆
Similar styleMoët & Chandon, Impérial Rosé Brut NV
France★★★½☆
Highly rated by FatherJacques Selosse Lieux-dits Le Bout du Clos Ambonnay Grand Cru Extra Brut
France · Champagne★★★★★
Highly rated by FatherMaison Leroy Saint-Aubin Premier Cru Le Charmois Blanc 2002
France · Burgundy★★★★★
Highly rated by FatherClos du Val Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 (Napa Valley)
United States · Napa★★★★★
Highly rated by FatherChâteau La Nerthe Cuvée des Cadettes Châteauneuf-du-Pape 1996
France · Rhône★★★★★
Highly rated by FatherChâteau La Lagune Haut-Médoc 1970
France · Bordeaux★★★★★
Highly rated by FatherEgly-Ouriet Blanc de Noirs Grand Cru 'Les Crayères' Ambonnay
France · Champagne★★★★★
Highly rated by FatherLucien Le Moine Chambolle-Musigny Premier Cru Les Hauts Doix 2016
France · Burgundy★★★★★
Highly rated by FatherDomaine Coche-Dury Meursault 2013
France · Burgundy★★★★★More from Champagne, France
Swipe for more →
ChampagneJacques Selosse Lieux-dits Le Bout du Clos Ambonnay Grand Cru Extra Brut
★★★★★ChampagneLouis Roederer Cristal Rosé Vinothèque 2008
★★★★★ChampagneEgly-Ouriet Blanc de Noirs Grand Cru 'Les Crayères' Ambonnay
★★★★★
ChampagneGimonnet Gonet Millésime Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Brut 2011
★★★★☆
ChampagneJacques Selosse Initial Blanc de Blancs Brut Grand Cru (Avize)
★★★★½
ChampagnePascal Doquet Cœur de Terroir Le Mesnil-sur-Oger Grand Cru 2006
★★★★½ChampagnePol Roger Rosé Vintage 2009
★★★☆☆ChampagneCharles Clément, Brut Rosé (NV)
★★★★☆
ChampagneDeutz, Brut Classic (NV)
★★★☆☆
ChampagneTaittinger, Brut Réserve (NV)
★★★★☆Explore
Bottles Father gave five stars
Only the wines Father scored a perfect 5
→
Wines in manga, film and history
Bottles that show up in manga, film and history
→
Wines you can buy at the supermarket
Wines actually bought at the supermarket
→Frequently asked questions
What kind of wine is Billecart-Salmon Brut Rosé?
A non-vintage rosé Champagne made since the 1970s by Billecart-Salmon, a family house founded in 1818. It blends Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. Vivino 4.4 (29,000+ ratings); Wine-Searcher critic aggregate 91.
How much does it cost?
Wine-Searcher's world average is US$160 per 750ml (ex-tax, Sep 2026). No overseas retail listings appeared when I checked.
What food goes with it?
The Vivino community suggests pork, shellfish, rich fish such as salmon, and mild soft cheese. I drank it with Chinese food, including sweet-and-sour pork.
How does a Champagne rosé get its pink colour?
Champagne is one of the few French regions where rosé may be made by blending a little local red wine into white. Another way is a short skin maceration. I couldn't confirm which method this bottle uses, or its proportion of red wine.
Links & sources
View on Vivino · Prices on Wine-Searcher
- Vivino — wine page and community data
- Billecart-Salmon — History
- Wikipedia — Billecart-Salmon
- Premium Grands Crus — Billecart-Salmon Le Rosé
- Wine-Searcher — Billecart-Salmon Brut Le Rose
Read next
Swipe for more →
Similar styleLouis Roederer Cristal Rosé Vinothèque 2008
France · Champagne★★★★★Similar stylePol Roger Rosé Vintage 2009
France · Champagne★★★☆☆Highly rated by FatherJacques Selosse Lieux-dits Le Bout du Clos Ambonnay Grand Cru Extra Brut
France · Champagne★★★★★Highly rated by FatherMaison Leroy Saint-Aubin Premier Cru Le Charmois Blanc 2002
France · Burgundy★★★★★Highly rated by FatherClos du Val Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 (Napa Valley)
United States · Napa★★★★★Highly rated by Father