The House of Salon was created at the turn of the century by oenophile Eugène-Aimé Salon, a man so singular in his pursuit of the quintessential champagne that he devoted much of his life to realising the exceptional conditions necessary to create just one wine.
Eugène-Aimé meticulously scoured the entire Champagne region for the parcels of terrain he believed capable of exception; he sought a chalk-rich vineyard capable of yielding the very finest Chardonnay grapes. The man was fascinated by the Chardonnay grape, and believed wholly in the transformative potential of a lengthy lees ageing on Chardonnay wines.
He simply refused to entertain the idea of planting other grape varieties like his neighbours did. He found his vineyard location, situated on a deep chalk seam in the heart of the Grand Cru village of Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, in the heart of the Côte des Blancs, and planted it with Chardonnay. Grapes from this tiny vineyard — called Le Jardin de Salon — still form the basis of all Salon vintages.
Initially Eugène-Aimé produced Salon in minuscule quantities for himself and his friends, however the champagne was so greatly appreciated that in 1921 he applied for a commercial licence to produce the wine in greater volume. Even so, a Salon vintage equates to on average 4,000 cases, tiny by Champagne standards.
In 1988, the House of Salon was bought by Champagne Laurent-Perrier and is run by Didier Depond under the aegis of President Bernard de Nonancourt, one of the most highly respected figures in Champagne.
