I am a Champagne drinker. It is my desert island drink, the answer to the question “If you could only have one wine”, though I am grateful that this question has only ever been hypothetical.
It was during my first restaurant job in New York that I developed this Champagne habit. And it wasn’t just any Champagne, it was The Perfect Beverage.
This is what the chef-owner of that restaurant, a man with more than enough life experiences to make such a proclamation, called Billecart-Salmon Brut Rosé.
In what would surely be any other business owner’s worst nightmare, the stuff flowed freely around the place, not just to VIPs or friends, but to me and anyone else on the staff who wanted it. Most cooks drink beer at the end of a shift, but I always chose the pink. I was the pastry plater, and nothing made waiting for that last table to order dessert more tolerable than a glass of The Perfect Beverage. Once I was off the clock, a certain bartender would refresh my glass frequently and without my permission. He apparently knew what he was doing because we started dating and stayed together more than 4 years.
Sadly, when a new wine director was hired, The Perfect Beverage was no longer poured by the glass. Eventually the restaurant closed. Suddenly I was forced to pay retail for the Billecart, and so my consumption of it has since been limited to special occasions or moments of impulsive splurging at the wine shop. At nearly $70 a bottle, it is not an every-day kind of wine.
I don’t know what else to say about it, really. Does it have hints of strawberry? Perhaps. Is it smooth with a clean finish? Probably. Is it delicious? Definitely.
Champagne Billecart-Salmon Brut Rosé NV
To find out more about the house of Billecart-Salmon, go here.
To find out where you can buy it in the US and compare prices, try this nifty website.
Barb,
I love the look of the site and the content is enjoyable and fun – thanks for sharing and I look forward to reading more!
Love,
Jill
Hey,
the site is looking great and I love your posts. I too am a fan of the pink. We shall have to rendez vous later for some lol x Pip
Hey Barbra! I really like the site =) It’s very fun to read. I hope I’ll one day have the opportunity to become as cultured & sophisticated as you are =)I hope you’re enjoying Paris!
<3 Siobhan