Just sixteen more sleeps until Christmas Day, and while we all can't wait for some festive meals, drinks and long sleep ins, it also signals the final few tastings of the year before a small break through the start of January! And so, for the penultimate festive Champagne tasting of 2024 before our very last one on the 21st, we set out sights on Bollinger for the next week!
Both the Special Cuvée and Brut Rosé have been lowered down to terrific price points for a number of weeks now, and that will continue on until New Year's Day - great news for all those adoring fans of Bollinger's unmistakable balance and boldness! We'll have both of those open for our tasting come Saturday (14th December) between 12 and 2pm, as well three of the estate's premium efforts; the incredibly unique PN AYC Blanc de Noirs (a 100% Pinot Noir bubbles, with a 2018 base vintage), and their delicious La Grande Année releases from 2015 (both Brut and Rosé). Those, as well as larger formats of Special Cuvée and Rosé NV we currently hold for those who love magnums, will stay down on special until next Monday!
Bollinger - Champagne Monday Special
$89 on special until the end of December ($105 RRP)
(Featured on this weekend's tasting - rest of the lineup below)
// 60% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay, and 15% Meunier
"The complexity and richness of Special Cuvée is unparalleled among the entry non-vintage blends of every Champagne house, short of ascending to the mesosphere of Krug. Its grand recipe explains why, built on incredible depth of 50%-60% reserves. Triumphant complexity is a given at Bollinger, but it’s the dynamic freshness and vitality that really set it apart as one of the most affordable Champagne benchmarks." - 96 Points, Decanter
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Weekend Tasting - Lineup & Specials
This Saturday (14th December) from 12 to 2pm
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Brut Rosé NV - $125 on special ($149 RRP)
// 62% Pinot Noir, 24% Chardonnay and 14% Pinot Meunier
Dosage: 7-8gr/l
"Bright pink colour, showing the excellent freshness that is also evident on nose and palate. Dried strawberry; gently nutty; no obvious aldehyde. A fuller, rounder style of pink Champagne, lovely balance and mouth-feel, the dosage isn't evident and neither is it as super-dry as the vintage Bollinger wines. Very good." - 93 Points, Huon Hooke, The Real Review
PN AYC 2018 Blanc de Noirs - $210 on special ($230 RRP)
// 100% Pinot Noir
Dosage: 6 gr/l
"Light straw, almost rose-gold colour indicating black grapes, and the bouquet has a lot of complexity from oak and aldehydes, nougat, coconut and flor-sherry nuances, while it's full-bodied and rich on the tongue, with a very dry balance and mouth-filling flavour and textural grip. Lots of almond, biscuit and spice aromas. A powerhouse of a wine, the strength of pinot noir comes rocketing through. It takes blanc de noirs style to an extreme, and I love it. (100% pinot noir from Aÿ. Base year 2018, oldest reserve wine 2009.)" - 96 Points, Huon Hooke, The Real Review
"Based on the 2018 vintage, complemented by reserve wines aged in magnum dating back to 2009, Bollinger's newly released NV Brut Blanc de Noirs PN AYC18 was disgorged this year with six grams per liter dosage. Foregrounding the village of Aÿ, a commune crucial to Bollinger's distinctive style, the wine wafts from the glass with aromas of golden orchard fruit, honeycomb, buttered toast, freshly baked bread and dried white flowers. Medium to full-bodied, pillowy and vinous, with an ample core of fruit that's girdled by lively acids and animated by an elegant pinpoint mousse, this suave, charming Champagne concludes with a chalky finish. This has turned out beautifully." - 94 Points, William Kelley, Wine Advocate
La Grande Année 2015 - $285 on special ($320 RRP)
// 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay
Dosage - 8g/L
"Medium-light straw with golden reflections, indicating red grapes in the mix. The bouquet is rich and complex, powerful and loaded with savoury toasted-bread, roasted-nut, coconut/aldehyde and dried fruit aromas, an extraordinary array of scents. It all translates directly to the palate where its voluminous flavour fills every corner of the mouth, a little vanilla is added, and it lasts a long time on the aftertaste. The balance is impeccable: the acidity is there but doesn't make itself felt, while the dryness is refreshing and appetising. A powerful wine in which barrel ageing is a strong and obvious influence on flavour and bouquet." - 97 Points, Huon Hooke, The Real Review
"Bollinger's 2015 Brut Grand Année is an intriguing wine in that is clearly reflects the decision to pick on the later side in order to avoid vegetal notes derived from the mismatch of alcoholic and phenolic ripeness. "Balance was hard to achieve in 2015," Chef de Cave Denis Bunner notes. "At 10% in sugar, the fruit was simply not ripe. We had to wait to reach the optimal window of ripeness." Bunner also opted to increase the Chardonnay, so the blend is 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay, as opposed to the more typical 70/30 blend, with more Verzenay than Aÿ in the Pinots. Dried citrus peel, sage, menthol, sage, tangerine peel and spice build with some coaxing. Light tropical overtones develop with aeration. There's real density and textural richness here. This will be a fascinating vintage to follow. Stylistically, it is the complete opposite from the much more linear 2014 that precedes it. Disgorged May 2023." - 96 Points, Antonio Galloni, Vinous
La Grande Année Rosé 2015 - $375 on special ($420 RRP)
// 62% Pinot Noir and 38% Chardonnay
Dosage - 7g/L
"Bollinger's 2015 Brut La Grande Année Rosé was disgorged in May last year with seven grams per liter dosage. Offering up deep aromas of orchard fruits, blood orange, mandarin rind and peach mingled with nuances of coffee, praline and fino sherry, it's medium to full-bodied, pillowy and layered, with a broad attack that segues into a vinous palate framed by high levels of structuring dry extract that makes its presence felt on the sapid, nutty and penetrating finish. Given the skin maturity and inherent structure of the year, the Bollinger team elected to include only 4.5% of still red wine in the blend, a comparatively low percentage." - 96 Points, William Kelley, Wine Advocate
"Coppery bronze in colour, this is intensely fragrant echoing the lightly smoky, oxidative notes of its white counterpart and showing notes of fresh red berries; they are reprised when you taste the wine with a touch of raspberry fruit sweetness tempered by a lively refreshing acidity alongside the extra phenolic grip that comes from the addition of 5% of red wine from Bollinger’s 4 ha vineyard, La Côte Aux Enfants. Rich and bold in its flavours, its freshness brings an elegant balance to a super-vinous champagne." - 95 Points, Anthony Rose, The Real Review
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Also Available (Magnum formats) -
Special Cuvée NV Magnum - $270 on special
Brut Rosé NV Magnum - $335 on special
If you wish to purchase any of these champagnes, please use the links above. Otherwise, if you have any questions, please contact us on (07)32521117 or email sales@thewineemporium.com.au
// Price valid until Monday the 16th of December