Blanc de Blancs, Brut, Le Mesnil,

Maturing into a medium golden color, the 1996 Salon reveals open-knit, alluring scents of butterscotch, dried apricots, pineapple upside-down cake, and preserved lemons, plus wafts of sea spray and praline. The light to medium-bodied palate delivers Salon’s classic razor-fine backbone of acidity with rich, evolved caramelized tropical fruit layers while the bubbles remain exquisitely tiny and persistent. It gives a very long, mineral-tinged finish.

The 1996 Salon is just dazzling. It needs a good bit of air to fully open up, but the 1996 Salon is simply a mesmerizing Champagne that sizzles with energy, cut and total precision. A second bottle later in the week was every bit as compelling. When the 1996 Salon is on, it is just about as great as Champagne gets.