Bollinger Special Cuvée NV x 6, Champagne

Vintage
0
Region
Champagne
Producer
Bollinger
Stock Type
Premium
Drinking
Now-2006
Style
Sparkling
Variety
Chardonnay/Pinot Noir/Meunier
Price
£215.94 DP
 
£165.34 IB
Bollinger Special Cuvée NV x 6, Champagne

armit Tasting Note

A timeless classic and still one of the best-loved champagnes on sale in the UK. Rich, toasty, biscuity notes, full-bodied and utterly delicious.

Critic's Tasting Note

There's a slight grain to the texture and this bubbly is all the better for it, lending a pleasing assertiveness to the peach, candied citrus, spice and graphite notes. It's all backed by a firm acidity and a chalky finish. Drink now through 2010.

  • Tasted by:Wine Spectator

Pale gold. Fresh apple and pear aromas are underscored by gentle toast and mineral notes. Surprisingly lithe on the palate, which displays more tangy citrus character than I expect from this house. Fleshy pear and apple flavors are enlivened by orange and spices. Turns richer on the broad, persistent finish.

  • Tasted by:Stephen Tanzer

The NV Brut Special Cuvee opens with elegant, well-delineated aromas of honey, brioche, roasted nuts, orange zest, flowers and peaches, of which appear on the palate in a classy, finessed expression of the house style. This is an especially refined and delicious NV Champagne. The Special Cuvee is roughly 60% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay and 15% Pinot Meunier (2004, 2003) sourced from a variety of vineyards. Bollinger adds 5-10% of reserve wines (in this case from 1995 and 1996, aged in magnums) which gives this offering its lovely complexity. The dosage is 7-9 grams per liter. This is Lot: 807704, disgorged towards the end of 2007. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2012. Under the direction of Chef de Caves Mathieu Kauffmann, Bollinger produces one of the most consistent lineups in Champagne.Bollinger is one of the handful of larger firms that manages to put out consistently high quality wines despite its size. This estate based in Ay is probably best known to the public through its long association with the James Bond films, which is quite possibly one of the most successful product placement campaigns of all time. Despite the show biz glamor that has inextricably become part of the Bollinger mystique, at their best these are serious wines with significant aging potential. The low-dosage R.D. (recently-disgorged) series can be tremendous, and the Vielles Vignes Francaises, made from pre-phylloxera Pinot Noir vines, is one of Champagne's most exotic bottlings. The estate favors neutral oak barrels for the aging of its top wines. One of the most unique aspects of this estate is that the reserve wines are aged in magnum, rather than in tank, which is the prevailing custom in the region. Bollinger's back labels are quite informative, but it would be nice to see disgorgement dates as well on the non-vintage wines.

  • Tasted by:Robert Parker
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