Billecart-Salmon is discreetly but significantly evolving. Since 2010, a new cellar has housed some 400 barrels for vinification and elevage, and since 2018, another cellar is home to oak foudres retaining some 80,000 liters of reserve wine. Meanwhile, Billecart`s wines are spending longer and longer sur lattes, and fruit sourcing is changing—with more grand cru fruit replacing premier cru fruit—while volumes remain the same. Based on the trials underway in their emblematic Clos Saint-Hilaire, the next frontier will be the vineyards. This visit and tasting with Mathieu Roland-Billecart and chef des caves Florent Nys underscored the impact of these quiet but important changes, and it`s clear that this is a house that`s going from strength to strength. I`ll be reporting on Billecart-Salmon in greater depth in the future, but for now, all these recent releases come warmly recommended. Based on the 2015 vintage and disgorged with nine grams per liter dosage, the latest release of Billecart`s NV Brut Reserve contains fully 55% reserve wines and is showing very well, offering up complex aromas of warm bread, crisp green orchard fruit and citrus oil. On the palate, it`s medium to full-bodied and charming but lively, with an elegantly textural attack, a fleshy core of fruit and lively balancing acids. 90 points