1997 Champagne Salon, Le Mesnil, Blanc de Blancs, Brut

Chardonnay is often seen as the king of white wine grapes and one of the most widely planted in the world It is suited to a wide variety of soils, though it excels in soils with a high limestone content as found in Champagne, Chablis, and the Côte D`Or. Burgundy is Chardonnay's spiritual home and the best White Burgundies are dry, rich, honeyed wines with marvellous poise, elegance and balance. They are unquestionably the finest dry white wines in the world. Chardonnay plays a crucial role in the Champagne blend, providing structure and finesse, and is the sole grape in Blanc de Blancs.

Salon, a tiny house on the Côte de Blancs, produces what connoisseurs consider to be the quintessential Blanc de Blancs. Salon produces Champagnes in minuscule amounts (50,000 bottles a year, if at all) from over 40-year-old vines in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger (one of the greatest crus of the Côte de Blancs).