Halliday Wine Companion "Bollinger is second only to Krug with the depth and complexity of its reserve. The accent is firmly on pinot noir from Premier and Grand Cru sources. Small wonder it is of towering power and complexity capable of handling any food match. Exceptional bargain."
James Suckling "Lots of biscuit aromas and a wide spectrum of fresh-citrus, candied-citrus, red-apple and red-berry notes. Mouth-filling creaminess, plus quite an imposing presence and powerful structure for an NV Brut. Long, citrus and chalky finish that’s very clean and properly dry. 60% pinot noir, 30% chardonnay, 10% pinot meunier. Almost 20% barrel fermented and 62% reserve wines. Based on the 2017 vintage and disgorged July 2021. Drink now."
Decanter "Delicate aromas of spiced baked apples, pear, quince, a touch of raspberry and notes of brioche and biscuits. Excellent fine mousse, dry and refreshing."
Wine Spectator "This harmonious Champagne is wonderfully vibrant as it dances across the palate, with the satinlike mousse carrying flavors of white cherry, Marcona almond and ground coffee that show accents of candied kumquat, ginger, aromatic verbena and graphite. A streak of racy salinity emerges on mouthwatering finish. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier. Drink now through 2025."
Gilbert & Gaillard "Beautiful, brilliant, clear light gold. Delicate nose offering up fruity and biscuit accents. The palate is fleshy, fresh and delivers more of the same compelling, chiselled aromas. A successful, racy Champagne that lingers on the palate."
Roger Voss, Wine Enthusiast "Dominated, as always, by Pinot Noir and with wood fermentation and aging, this Champagne has a great poise between freshness and richness. It is intense and ripe, with apple and minerality coming together. The bottling is ready to drink."
Vinum Wine Magazine "Superb, seductive bouquet of pastries, spices and exotic fruits; elegant attack, slim but dense development, has flesh, great elegance and finesse and ideal length; belongs again to the best Brut of Champagne."
Bollinger is perhaps one of the most recognisable French Champagne houses internationally. Founded in 1829 in Champagne, France, Bollinger has continuously created prestigious champagnes with a unique powerful character that is distinguished by their elegance and complexity; nothing less than excellence is permitted. It is because of this pursuit of perfection that Bollingers has been awarded the Royal Warrant since 1884.
The Bollinger vineyard covers 179 hectares, most of which are classified Grand or Premier cru. Pinot Noir predominates, a demanding grape variety with an intense character which forms the backbone of the Bollinger style. Continuity of style is ensured by an exceptional collection of over 800,000 reserve magnums, making Bollinger the only champagne House with such a wide and precise palette of aromas for their blends.As a guarantee of supreme quality, the best crus are vinified in wood thanks to a stock of 4,000 small, aged casks. Bollinger lets its wines mature for twice as long as the appellation requirement. This is not out of vanity, but because a great wine needs the luxury of time to develop its full character.
The Champagne region lies at the northern edge of the world's vineyard-growing areas, with lower average temperatures than any other French wine region. In this kind of cool climate, the growing season is rarely warm enough to ripen grapes to the levels required for standard winemaking. Even in temperate years, Champagne's grapes still bear the hallmark acidity of a marginal climate, and it was only the discovery of secondary fermentation that provided a wine style capable of harnessing – and even embracing – this tartness.
Champagne is the most iconic sparkling wine in the world, produced in the region of Champagne in France. Synonymous with celebration, champagne is typically produced from a few specific varieties of grapes: pinot noir, chardonnay, and pinot meunier. With effervescent flavors of citrus, almond, and apple, champagne comes in varying levels of sweetness and has a moderate amount of alcohol. The most treasured Champagnes age for a minimum of 3 years.
The Champagne region is located 140 kilometres from Paris, France. While the vines in this region have been producing wine since the Roman era, it is only in the past couple of hundred years that winemakers began producing Champagne using méthode champenoise - the complex method that produces the style of Champagne the world knows and loves today. Another important component of the production of champagne is the chalk and limestone soils which dominate the Champagne region. Vines grown in these conditions result in wines that are high in acidity - a key component to making good sparkling wine. Champagne's northerly location - about as north as grapes can ripen - also allow for higher acidity and lower alcohol levels which are also very important for producing quality sparkling wine."
"Brut Nature and Zero Dosage are terms used to denote the very driest style of Champagne, with less than three grams of residual sugar per liter of wine. They are often referred to as being non-dosé or 'Brut Zero'. The most common sweetness level – just slightly sweeter than Brut Nature – is Champagne Brut.
Sweetness is a key component in defining the style of any Champagne. Before final bottling, most Champagne is given a final dosage (a mixture of sugar syrup and wine known as the liqueur d'expedition) to adjust its sweetness up to the desired level. This step is deliberately omitted for Brut Nature wines, leaving the wine in its 'natural' state.
Champagne Brut Nature wines are naturally high in acidity and low in sugar, making for a refreshing, searingly dry mouthful. At the opposite end of the sweetness scale are those Champagnes with more than 50g/L of residual sugar, labeled as Champagne Doux.
Spéciale Cuvée is the Bollinger house style. This unique blend uses grapes from a given year with an addition of reserves wines that may have been aged for fifteen years. It has been described by Champagne author Tom Stevenson that this exceptional house style as that of a classic, Pinot-dominated Champagnes of great potential longevity and complexity" which "tends to go toasty." The Spéciale Cuvée are aged for at least five years in lees before release, and usually have the blend of:
60% Pinot Noir 25% Chardonnay 15% Meunier Over 85% Grands and Premiers crus.
LE GUIDE HACHETTE DES VINS, Recognition won: 2 Stars Coup de Coeur
Halliday Wine Companion "Bollinger is second only to Krug with the depth and complexity of its reserve. The accent is firmly on pinot noir from Premier and Grand Cru sources. Small wonder it is of towering power and complexity capable of handling any food match. Exceptional bargain."
James Suckling "Lots of biscuit aromas and a wide spectrum of fresh-citrus, candied-citrus, red-apple and red-berry notes. Mouth-filling creaminess, plus quite an imposing presence and powerful structure for an NV Brut. Long, citrus and chalky finish that’s very clean and properly dry. 60% pinot noir, 30% chardonnay, 10% pinot meunier. Almost 20% barrel fermented and 62% reserve wines. Based on the 2017 vintage and disgorged July 2021. Drink now."
Decanter "Delicate aromas of spiced baked apples, pear, quince, a touch of raspberry and notes of brioche and biscuits. Excellent fine mousse, dry and refreshing."
Wine Spectator "This harmonious Champagne is wonderfully vibrant as it dances across the palate, with the satinlike mousse carrying flavors of white cherry, Marcona almond and ground coffee that show accents of candied kumquat, ginger, aromatic verbena and graphite. A streak of racy salinity emerges on mouthwatering finish. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier. Drink now through 2025."
Gilbert & Gaillard "Beautiful, brilliant, clear light gold. Delicate nose offering up fruity and biscuit accents. The palate is fleshy, fresh and delivers more of the same compelling, chiselled aromas. A successful, racy Champagne that lingers on the palate."
Roger Voss, Wine Enthusiast "Dominated, as always, by Pinot Noir and with wood fermentation and aging, this Champagne has a great poise between freshness and richness. It is intense and ripe, with apple and minerality coming together. The bottling is ready to drink."
Vinum Wine Magazine "Superb, seductive bouquet of pastries, spices and exotic fruits; elegant attack, slim but dense development, has flesh, great elegance and finesse and ideal length; belongs again to the best Brut of Champagne."
Bollinger is perhaps one of the most recognisable French Champagne houses internationally. Founded in 1829 in Champagne, France, Bollinger has continuously created prestigious champagnes with a unique powerful character that is distinguished by their elegance and complexity; nothing less than excellence is permitted. It is because of this pursuit of perfection that Bollingers has been awarded the Royal Warrant since 1884.
The Bollinger vineyard covers 179 hectares, most of which are classified Grand or Premier cru. Pinot Noir predominates, a demanding grape variety with an intense character which forms the backbone of the Bollinger style. Continuity of style is ensured by an exceptional collection of over 800,000 reserve magnums, making Bollinger the only champagne House with such a wide and precise palette of aromas for their blends.As a guarantee of supreme quality, the best crus are vinified in wood thanks to a stock of 4,000 small, aged casks. Bollinger lets its wines mature for twice as long as the appellation requirement. This is not out of vanity, but because a great wine needs the luxury of time to develop its full character.
The Champagne region lies at the northern edge of the world's vineyard-growing areas, with lower average temperatures than any other French wine region. In this kind of cool climate, the growing season is rarely warm enough to ripen grapes to the levels required for standard winemaking. Even in temperate years, Champagne's grapes still bear the hallmark acidity of a marginal climate, and it was only the discovery of secondary fermentation that provided a wine style capable of harnessing – and even embracing – this tartness.
Champagne is the most iconic sparkling wine in the world, produced in the region of Champagne in France. Synonymous with celebration, champagne is typically produced from a few specific varieties of grapes: pinot noir, chardonnay, and pinot meunier. With effervescent flavors of citrus, almond, and apple, champagne comes in varying levels of sweetness and has a moderate amount of alcohol. The most treasured Champagnes age for a minimum of 3 years.
The Champagne region is located 140 kilometres from Paris, France. While the vines in this region have been producing wine since the Roman era, it is only in the past couple of hundred years that winemakers began producing Champagne using méthode champenoise - the complex method that produces the style of Champagne the world knows and loves today. Another important component of the production of champagne is the chalk and limestone soils which dominate the Champagne region. Vines grown in these conditions result in wines that are high in acidity - a key component to making good sparkling wine. Champagne's northerly location - about as north as grapes can ripen - also allow for higher acidity and lower alcohol levels which are also very important for producing quality sparkling wine."
"Brut Nature and Zero Dosage are terms used to denote the very driest style of Champagne, with less than three grams of residual sugar per liter of wine. They are often referred to as being non-dosé or 'Brut Zero'. The most common sweetness level – just slightly sweeter than Brut Nature – is Champagne Brut.
Sweetness is a key component in defining the style of any Champagne. Before final bottling, most Champagne is given a final dosage (a mixture of sugar syrup and wine known as the liqueur d'expedition) to adjust its sweetness up to the desired level. This step is deliberately omitted for Brut Nature wines, leaving the wine in its 'natural' state.
Champagne Brut Nature wines are naturally high in acidity and low in sugar, making for a refreshing, searingly dry mouthful. At the opposite end of the sweetness scale are those Champagnes with more than 50g/L of residual sugar, labeled as Champagne Doux.
Spéciale Cuvée is the Bollinger house style. This unique blend uses grapes from a given year with an addition of reserves wines that may have been aged for fifteen years. It has been described by Champagne author Tom Stevenson that this exceptional house style as that of a classic, Pinot-dominated Champagnes of great potential longevity and complexity" which "tends to go toasty." The Spéciale Cuvée are aged for at least five years in lees before release, and usually have the blend of:
60% Pinot Noir 25% Chardonnay 15% Meunier Over 85% Grands and Premiers crus.
