In a world where champagne brands are proliferating and where new blends and expressions are announced on an almost daily basis, the ‘single cépage, single district origin and single vintage’ mantra of Champagne Salon appears as an oasis of stability. This formula serves to produce sublime, long-lived wines that justify their global interest and indeed the significant prices attained, but there is more to Salon’s success than is apparent at first sight.
The House of Salon came about in the early 20th century, the vision of one man, Eugène-Aimé Salon, born in the Champagne region but whose principal career was as a furrier. Successful in business, Salon’s vision matched his ambition. His love of champagne led him to conceive of a unique style, made solely from Chardonnay vines in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger (Côte de Blancs), initially for his personal consumption and that of his friends. Salon acquired a one-hectare plot of vines – the ‘Jardin de Salon’ – which provided the core of the wine. Located above the church of Le Mesnil, the terroir was deemed to provide the optimal balance between sugar and acidity to produce the distinctive style and, notably, the long ageing potential sought by the uncompromising Eugène-Aimé. His first vintage was 1905.
Production grew though the addition of grapes from contracted growers with vines in Le Mesnil sur Oger and in 1920 the House of Salon was formally established, the first commercial vintage being 1921. Salon was one of the first to market a single-variety champagne, and arguably Eugène-Aimé invented both the Blanc de Blancs name and style.
Eugène-Aimé led the company until his death in 1943. He determined that the wine would be made only in high quality vintages - itself not unusual, but the House mantra required that no other cuvée was released. In the other years, around six in ten, the grapes were sold to larger producers for non-vintage blends.
The four decades years following Eugène-Aimé’s passing was a dull patch for Champagne Salon, with little direction from his successors who eventually sold the brand to Dubonnet. During this period vintage wines were released more frequently and the House’s exalted reputation could not be maintained. The acquisition in 1989 by Laurent-Perrier brought revived vigour to Salon. The new owners instilled a more professional management without losing sight of the unique attributes of the House. ‘Single cépage, single district origin and single vintage’ remains the formula, and production is tightly controlled, around 60,000 bottles for each vintage release. Undeclared vintage production is fed to another L-P brand, Champagne Delamotte, and these two houses are distributed separately from Champagne Laurent Perrier.
Vine age, whether from Le Jardin or from contracted growers, is between 25 and 40 years. The wines are fermented in stainless steel only, then aged in bottle for up to ten years before release. Salon is sometimes unofficially referred to as ‘Cuvée S’. The latest vintage offering (in 2023) was Salon Blanc de Blancs 2013. Vintages back to 1985 remain available in several different geographies and currently (2024) magnums as old as 1948 can be found.