Great Champagne is a gift you never forget—at least I never do. And this year, for Robert Parker Wine Advocate’s last Matter of Taste event of 2017, we’re giving you the gift that’s at the top of every wine lover’s Christmas list: The Champagne Salon Dinner at Daniel, chef Daniel Boulud’s two Michelin-star flagship restaurant on the Upper East Side. Champagne is the theme for our December Matter of Taste event (along with Left Bank-inspired wines) and this dinner is packed with the very best in bubbles—Salon and its sister property, Delamotte. 

The exclusive, intimate dinner takes place on Saturday, December 2nd, and features the Wine Advocate’s very own Champagne specialist and reviewer, Stephan Reinhardt, who will join Salon Delamotte Export Director, Mathieu Pouchan, who will be on hand to talk about the world’s most famous and highly sought-after Champagne. Along with five courses tailor-made for the wines of Salon and Delamotte, the dinner features six vintages of Salon from 2006 back to 1983, including the 2002 vintage, which Didier Depond, President of Champagne Salon and Delamotte, called “‘one of the best vintages we have ever produced in Champagne.” Selections from Delamotte include the Brut Rosé and some lucky number sevens: 2007 and 1970 Blanc de Blancs and the rarer 1970 Collection. (Santa must have received my wish list this year!) 

One of the rarest and most sought-after wines in the world, Salon was founded in the early 1900s by Eugène-Aimé Salon, son of a Champenois cart maker, who first began making the wine simply to drink himself (the first commercial vintage was 1921). It is considered the first blanc de blancs Champagne, made only from Chardonnay grapes. With only one wine released under the Salon label, it’s the definition of singularity: always made from 100% Chardonnay, always vintage and always aged at least 10 years on the lees before release. Grapes for Salon come from the very best parcels of Le-Mesnil-sur-Oger in the Côte des Blancs, including a one-hectare parcel Aimé Salon purchased in 1905, called Le Jardin de Salon (the “Garden of Salon”). Salon declared only 37 vintages in the 20th century and no more than 60,000 bottles are ever released from a single vintage (by comparison, Dom Pérignon releases five to six million bottles of Champagne each year). Wines that don’t go into the cuvée for Salon may be used for the wines of its sister property, Delamotte, itself no small gift. 

As a stocking-stuffer, participants at the Champagne Salon dinner will also receive All Access passes to the Matter of Taste events on December 3rd at the Conrad New York. Salon lovers will have access to all the Master Classes, which of course include more Champagne with the Champagne Bollinger Perspective, plus a focus on wine from Washington with our reviewer Joe Czerwinski, The Life of Cardinale (10 vintages!) with editor-in-chief Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW and The New Vignerons, a seminar and the name of our reviewer Luis Gutiérrez’s new book, which he’ll be giving away to attendees. You’ll also receive VIP access and early entry to our Grand Walkabout Tasting, featuring over 250 wines rated 90 points or higher by Robert Parker Wine Advocate reviewers. 

Grab your tickets now—there are just a few seats left! This is the holiday pre-game event of the season and the very best in the world of Champagne. You know where I’ll be.