VARIETIES:
25% Chardonnay, 60% Pinot Noir and 15% Pinot Meunier
THE VINEYARD:
Over the years, Bollinger has built its vineyards at the heart of the finest crus in Champagne. Champagne Bollinger’s 179 hectares of vines are made up of 85% Grand and Premier crus and are farmed by our teams of growers across 7 separate vineyards: Aÿ, Avenay, Tauxières, Louvois and Verzenay for pinot noir, around the Montagne de Reims, Cuis for chardonnay on the Côte des Blancs and Champvoisy for meunier in the Vallée de la Marne. Another of Bollinger’s distinctive features are two plots, the Clos Saint-Jacques and Chaudes Terres, which have never succumbed to phylloxera. These ungrafted vines are entirely tended by hand and reproduced using a form of layering called provignage, thereby providing the means to preserve this extraordinary heritage from which the very exclusive Vieilles Vignes Françaises cuvée is produced.
THE WINERY:
Special Cuvée is composed of over 85% Grand and Premier crus of the three main Champagne varieties: 60% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay and 15% Meunier. It is cellar aged for twice as long as required by appellation regulations. It is moderately dosed at between 7 and 8 grams per litre.
TASTING:
A golden colour, distinctive of black grape varieties; very fine bubbles. on the nose this wine has a beautiful aromatic complexity, notes of ripe fruit and spices with hints of roasted apples, compote and peaches. On the palate this wine has a subtle combination of structure, length and vivacity; velvity bubbles with flavours of pear, brioche and spices with notes of fresh walnut.
