Simon Field MW enjoys Bollinger PN VZ 19, the latest and, so far, the best instalment of the house’s ongoing quest to produce “the apotheosis of a Pinot Noir Champagne.”
If any house has the right to chase down the dream of an apotheosis of a Pinot Noir Champagne, then that house should surely be Bollinger. Its kingdom is the Montagne village of Aÿ, after all, and its most celebrated wine is the fantastically rare Vieilles Vignes Françaises.
Bollinger finally decided to broaden the remit in 2010, paving the way for the first in a series of five wines, all rejoicing in a coda of abbreviation. Otherwise, we have had base wines (these are all Non-Vintage blends) from 2015 to 2019, of which three have been focused on Verzenay (2015, 2016, and now 2019), one on Tauxières (2017), and one only on Aÿ itself (2018). All Multi-Vintage, all Pinot Noir, and all rejoicing in plenty of reserve wine, much of it having been aged in magnum under cork. This facet, allied to the flavoring of oak fermentation, has informed a style that is very powerful, very Bollinger, and neatly described by managing director Charles-Armand de Belenet, as “endlessly decadent.” Quite.
Something very clever is going on here. The secret lies in the villages themselves, so long undervalued in the Champagne canon; Tauxières and Verzenay in particular selected because they are north- and northeast-facing, have deep and cool, chalky foundations, and impart a natural freshness and linearity to the wines,
This Article was originally published on World of Fine Wine
