The House of Champagne Bollinger was founded in 1829 in the village of Ay, in the heart of the Champagne region. Producers allege that Pinot Meunier lacks ageing potential, but this does not deter Krug from including around 15% of it in their final blends. Bolly is one of the most arresting of all Champagnes because the wines are fermented in oak barrels, giving the flavour an extra dimension of power and nobility. Unusually for a Champagne house, Bollinger have been grape growers as well as producers from the beginning. It is cellar aged for twice as long as required by appellation regulations with only a moderately dosage or between 7 and 8 grams per litre, to keep it as taught and crisp as possible.

Flavours weave between the immediate satisfaction of baked plum crumble with cream, and serious, savoury Pinot musk from the thoroughbred chalk terroir, the maturity of the base vintages and evolution in bottle. He thought the French expression “Brut sans année” was no match for such a subtle champagne… More than a hundred years later, the name of Bollinger’s key figure champagne still symbolizes both its expertise and its history. Another singularity are the reserve wines which are aged in magnums under cork for many years to create outstanding wines in the unique Bollinger style. The style owes much to fermentation of the wine in oak barrels which is unusual in the Champagne region.Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay, 15% Meunier sourced from more than 300 crus, including 85% grands and premiers crus; 15% fermented in old oak barrels.

We tasted the Vins Clairs at the winery in Aÿ last month and the house are optimsitic - even drawing likeness to the magnificent 1988 vintage! The very complex Bollinger blending recipe, including the laborious and costly use of long-aged reserve wines in magnums, results in something classy and seamless; this is a wine full of character. All of this care and attention has cemented the popularity of this wonderfully deep yet elegant, successful house style. Let us know if we need instructions for where to find your house or want us to leave your wine in the shed!

PN VZ16 is the second interpretation in a new series that will be released every year, always with a focus on one of Bollinger’s Pinot Noir crus. Pinot Noir accounts for nearly 40% of the plantings in Champagne and lies at the heart of most blends - it gives Champagne its body, structure, strength and grip. Which grapes are included in the blend, and their proportion, is one of the key factors determining the style of most Champagnes.

I don't drink Champagne/Prosecco/Cava/Bubbly/whatever to try to be 'posh' or 'snobby', I really do enjoy drinking and enjoying it and like most things, I have my favourites! This exceptional cuvée, with its distinctive personality, continues to be one of the best entry wines to the range from this house and is a benchmark wine for them. These cookies allow us to create statistical analyses to determine which articles are the most popular. of vineyards in Champagne are planted with Chardonnay and it performs best on the Côtes des Blancs and on the chalk slopes south of Epernay. R.D (Recently Disgorged) is the same blend as Grande Année, kept on its lees and disgorged much later.

To make the highly-esteemed Special Cuvée, grapes are predominately picked from Grand Cru and Premier Cru vineyards.

The palate has a flinty austeritywith Braeburn apple, white pepper and subtle spice followed by yeasty richnessand a brisk finish.Hints of brioche and fresh walnut linger on the lasting finish to enhance this powerful Special Cuvée. Rigorous adherence to their Quality Charter and a refusal to expand supplies to meet the huge demand ensures that Bollinger’s reputation remains intact. Triumphant complexity is a given at Bollinger, but it’s the dynamic freshness and vitality that really set it apart as one of the most affordable Champagne benchmarks. I have savored the wines throughout my 40 years in my professional wine career, and the wine has always performed well. The house charter states that 70% of grape supply must always come from the firm’s own vineyards, defining the standards of excellence that are synonymous with the Bollinger name.