This is a retrospective of two vintages. Once again, Björnstierne have joined force over two bottles in the ‘Now & Then’ series. This time it is Bollinger from the vintages 1976 vs 2015 that is in focus. [read the full champagne story]
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
From Bollinger ‘Millésime’ to ‘Grande Année’ and on to ‘La Grande Année’
The specific names of the cuvée have been as follows over the years;
Bollinger ‘Millésime’ 1923 – 1982
Bollinger ‘Grande Année’ 1983 – 1996
Bollinger ‘La Grande Année’ 1997 – 2015
Vintage Bollinger that has become one of the milestones in the champagne empire with its masculine oxidative rumbling style. The Pinot-dominated wines are nutty and chocolate-saturated and fermented in oak barrels. Every vintage is fantastic and although they are well suited to aging, you can drink them as soon as they are released on the market. The most legendary vintages are 1995, 1985, 1973, 1966 and 1945.
1976 Bollinger ’Grande Année’
Tasting note TheChampagneSommelier – ‘The debut vintage of ‘Grande Année’. The name ‘La Grande Année’ was launched with the 1997 vintage. Guess if I jumped when the bottle was uncovered at a blind tasting! If you grew up in the 70s like me, most of us remember the incredibly hot summer of 1976. How many of us Swedish kids were there in the afternoons hitting tennis balls on the garage door and playing Björn Borg vs Ilie Nastase [ROU], Guillermo Vilas [ARG] or Roscoe Tanner [USA]?
Interestingly, water stress also characterized this extremely hot vintage. Flowering occurred between the 10th and 15th of June, the harvest began 84 days later, on the 1st of September. The grapes were generally very ripe and of sound quality, further to a very hot and dry summer that allows us to achieve high alcohol levels (from 10° to 12°).
Grapes come only from Grands crus and Premiers crus. Normal blend of 65 percent Pinot Noir and 35 percent Chardonnay. 70% of the grapes come from Bollinger’s own vineyard, which guarantees the consistency and quality of its wines. 16 crus were included in the 1976 blend, with 83% Grands crus and 17% Premiers crus. These were mainly from Aÿ, Bouzy, Tauxières, Verzenay, Cuis, Grauves, Oger and Chouilly.
In good or exceptional years, a large part of Bollinger’s wines ferment in small oak barrels (205, 225 or 400 liters), lot by lot, cru by cru, grape variety by grape variety. Only old barrels are used, to ensure that neither tannin nor oak flavors are added to the wines. This technique increases both the aromatic complexity and the aging capacity of such wines.
In the glass? This is what Bollinger is all about. The color is deep, and the concentrated, glycerol-rich champagne forms clear “bones” along the edges of the glass. The aroma combines weight with complexity. Today, full-bodied and crunchy with rich bready, nutty and chocolate-saturated notes. A classic Bollinger with its sweet honey fruit. Not at all the same elasticity and purity as large R.D. bottles, but damn what a great champagne! If you find a completely freshly disgorged vinothèque bottle directly from Bollinger, the score skyrockets.’
97(97)p
The vintage 1976
★★★★★
A huge harvest of sun-ripened grapes initially produced slightly porky and extract-rich champagnes that were reminiscent of 1947s and 1959s but rarely really reached the greatness of those years. Quite often you could find a smoky bit in the taste through the fat oily structure. However, the vintage is one of those that has developed most positively in the last ten years, and today this is one of my favorite vintages to open at home and enjoy in big buttery sips. Louis Roederer Cristal, Dom Pérignon, Billecart-Salmon and Salon are all delicious wines that have managed to avoid clumsiness in this hot year. The most enjoyable are still De Venoge Des Princes and the inimitable Taittinger Comtes de Champagne!
2015 Bollinger ’La Grande Année’
An interesting detail that reduces tannin, clumsiness and contributes to an increased sense of freshness is, oddly enough, oak barrels. This is due to its great age and the company’s strict selection of the best casks that only provide micro oxidation. The color is already deep golden with a fine stream of tiny bubbles fighting their way up through the glycerol-rich concentrated wine. Intense and rich and at the same time nuanced and complex. The small concentrated grapes ultimately produced an ultimate gastronomic masterpiece.
The scent cannonade is classic Bollinger, but fresh and more nuanced than I expected from the vintage. Stone fruits, honeysuckle, honey, plum marmalade, Cox Orange, raspberry, almond, hazelnut, leather, tanned skin, cigar, and duck liver are all clear instruments in the orchestra playing their richly generous vintage anthem. The freshness does not come from acidity this time, but from lack of water and concentrated extracts in a similar way as the even more extreme 2003. In the finish I find tobacco, forest aromas and chocolate with sea salt, a delicious combination. Precisely the saltiness and the slightly higher tannin content contribute to making this a perfect partner for poultry in all its forms.’
95(93)p
The vintage 2015
★★★★
After a cold and rainy winter, we had to rely on a gloriously sunny start to the summer. Fortunately, some rain fell in August, and when the harvest was harvested under perfect conditions in September, we could look forward to very fine wines despite very low acidity.
There are similarities with 1947 here, so a long life despite the low acidity and the fat fruit cannot be ruled out. In fact, the vintage is one of the three warmest in a hundred years. So far, I have been most impressed by some insanely clean and lushly modern wines from pure Pinot Meunier with Maillart Mont Martin from Villers-Allerand as the biggest star. Keep your eyes open for wines from the Marne Valley in particular. The leaders right now are 2015 Bollinger P.N. Verzenay and Marguet Ambonnay La Grande Ruelle.
Champagne Bollinger
★★★★★
THE BACKGROUND Joseph Bollinger was the German from Würtemberg who founded this ancient house in 1829. The French called him simply “Jacques.” The firm’s large estates in the best Pinot villages were bought by his sons Georges and Joseph, and in 1918 it was time for the next Jacques to take over the property. He became the mayor of Aÿ, but died during the German occupation at the age of forty-seven. The most colorful person in the history of the house is his widow, Lily Bollinger, who kept a watchful eye on every bunch of grapes by cycling through the vineyards regularly. Her rigorous demands for quality still run through the house to this day.
Now Bollinger is run by Charles-Armand de Belenet, who control over 178 hectares,(104 with pinot noir) providing 70 percent of the grape supply. Most of of the wines are Selection Massalle no 386 planted in the twenties. The winemaker today is the wonderful “terroirist” Denis Bunner. Besides the house’s exceptional vineyards, they also use very expensive vinification methods. All the vintage wines are fermented in small, aged oak barrels and are never filtered. Malolactic fermentation—which would probably take place very late in the process—is not encouraged either. The reserve wines are stored at low pressure in magnums.
Bollinger make the heaviest and most full-bodied champagnes of any house, and their wines always have a smoky and hazelnuty complexity that is very hard to beat. The new PN, La Grande Année and R.D are among the very best, but it is clear that the rare and fantastic Vieilles Vignes Françaises, made with grapes from non-grafted Pinot vines, can reach even greater heights. All wines highly recommended.
‘One of the few perfect champagne houses and a beautiful gift to mankind.’
Champagne Club by Richard Juhlin
