Bollinger Special Cuvee Champagne Magnum 150cl

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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.

This prestigious cuvée was made from 14 different crus, the Pinot Noirs are from Aÿ to Verzenay and the Chardonnays are from Cramant to Oger. Fermentation was exclusively carried out in barrels, the Bollinger 007 Luxury Limited Edition Moonraker 2007 was aged on lees and under a natural cork stopper for 10 years.Champagne is made from chardonnay, pinot noir or pinot meunier grapes (there are one or two other permitted varieties but these are very rare) grown on chalky hillsides within a strictly demarcated region centred on the twin towns of Reims and Epernay, some 90 miles east of Paris. After hand harvesting, each grape variety is vinified separately, and in the following spring, the wines are blended unless a blancs de blancs is to made in which case any blending will be from parcels of chardonnay that were vinified separately. Yeast and sugar are added, and the wine is bottled for its second fermentation which creates the bubbles, or mousse. In some Champagnes the dégorgement is delayed, sometimes for years, to increase the depth and complexity of the flavours through more time spent on the lees. After topping up (dosage) with a little more wine and sugar (known as liqueur d'expédition), the bottle is sealed. Pinot noir offers complexity, fruit flavour and texture, which explains why it is the most planted Champagne grape. Acidity levels are not as high as chardonnay, but pinot noir offers weightier flavours, adding body and strength, and giving the wine structure. Bollinger is a good example of a classic pinot noir-dominant blend.

Brut Nature/Brut Zéro - Fewer than 3 grams of sugar per litre (1 on The Wine Society’s sweetness code) are left to age on the lees for twice or three times as long as stipulated by the Champagne appellation, so that the wine can develop and gain in complexity. It is this long rest that gives that rare delicate quality to the aromas and a velvety texture to the bubbles. Brut denotes a dry style of Champagne (less than 15 grams per litre). Most Champagne is non-vintage, produced from a blend from different years. The non-vintage blend is always based predominately on wines made from the current harvest, enriched with aged wines (their proportion and age varies by brand) from earlier harvests, which impart an additional level of complexity to the end wine. Champagnes from a single vintage are labelled with the year reference and with the description Millésimé. Champagne sweetness: Champagnes, on the whole, are less sweet than they were 100 years ago, mainly as a result of consumer demand. Brut is by far the most common style. This notion of time does not stop here. At Bollinger we let nature run its course; if the harvest does not reach vintage standards, we wait until the following year or even the year after that, so that quality always prevails over quantity. To take this idea even further, only the La Grande Année vintages with exceptional ageing potential will be left several years longer in the cellars, to become the famous Bollinger R.D. cuvées, delighting the taste buds of the most exacting tasters.Created under strict conditions in the Champagne region of France, Bollinger Special Cuvée's unique taste is the result of blending freshly harvested grapes with reserve wines to achieve the familiar, Pinot-strong mix. It features fruity undertones with a rich velvety texture. The nose has hints of brioche, with undertones of fig and spice. This is a dry, rather than sweet, champagne. The complexity of the taste can be attributed to the age of reserve wines, often up to fifteen years old, which create the multifaceted taste at the heart of the Special Cuvée. The champagne is fermented in oak barrels, which also contribute to the unique taste. The wine pairs well with fish and other seafood, though will generally complement most cuisine. Top Bottles at Low Prices of vineyards in Champagne are planted with Chardonnay and it performs best on the Côtes des Blancs and on the chalk slopes south of Epernay. It is relatively simple to grow, although it buds early and thus is susceptible to spring frosts. It produces lighter, fresher wines than those from Burgundy and gives finesse, fruit and elegance to the final blend. It is the sole grape in Blancs de Blancs, which are some of the richest long-lived Champagnes produced. Some of the most collectable large formats in still wine are those from the Vendemmia d’Artista project by super-Tuscan Ornellaia, which features works by a different artist each year. The newly released 2020 vintage has been interpreted by the conceptual artist Joseph Kosuth, in a series of works that riff on the etymology of the word “vino”. The 75cl bottles have a quote from Vitruvius; 100 double magnums show an etymological tree; 10 one-of-a-kind six-litre Impérials (or methuselahs in champagne speak) are etched with Vitruvius’s quotation translated into one of 10 languages. Kosuth has also created a unique work for a single nine-litre salmanazar. (Some of the larger bottles will go under the hammer online via Sotheby’s in September, to raise money for the Guggenheim Museum’s Mind’s Eye programme, which helps blind and vision-impaired people to access art.)

Unusually for a Champagne house, Bollinger have been grape growers as well as producers from the beginning. The house charter states that 70% of grape supply must always come from the firm’s own vineyards, defining the standards of excellence that are synonymous with the Bollinger name. Since its foundation in 1829, Champagne Bollinger has been producing great Champagnes with a powerful, sophisticated and complex style. Champagne Bollinger has a family history in Champagne of over 180 years and is the custodian of a patiently established heritage during the decades. A Champagne house with a venerable history and tradition, it is now run by the great-great-grandson of the founder Joseph Bollinger, thus retaining the family ownership and legacy. It is one of the relatively few independent, family-owned Champagne houses remaining. Aside from making great champagne, Bollinger is best known for its association with the James Bond movie franchise as the favourite bubbly of Britain's most famous fictional secret agent. Bollinger ages their non-vintage wines three years and the vintage wines five to eight years. Champagnes are riddled by hand. You can always count on Bollinger Special Cuvee to exude fruit, spice and nut-like qualities, all topped with a fine mousse that refreshes and delights the palate when you want to impress a dinner guest or offer a special gift. How do you give Champagne as a gift? Renowned for consistently fantastic quality, Bollinger Special Cuvée is an elegant champagne that is sure to make your evening special. This champagne house has been refining their techniques since 1829, using the unique chalky soil of their vineyards to produce high quality Pinot Meunier, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes. Known affectionately in the UK as "Bolly", this brand has become a firm favourite and is sure to bring a touch of class to every occasion. The Gift of Good Taste Pinot Noir accounts for nearly 40% of the plantings in Champagne and lies at the heart of most blends - it gives Champagne its body, structure, strength and grip. It is planted across Champagne and particularly so in the southern Aube district. Which grapes are included in the blend, and their proportion, is one of the key factors determining the style of most Champagnes. Three grapes are used - Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier.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.

Rosé Champagne is unique in that it is the only rosé in France that is allowed to be made by mixing red and white wines, as opposed to the normal method of using dark-skinned grapes and macerating them for a short period, so a little of the colour is leeched. In the past some houses felt it rather beneath them to produce rosé Champagne, but almost all do so now.

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Bollinger's uniqueness comes from its 174 hectares divided into seven main vineyards in Champagne, 85% of which are Grands Crus and Premiers Crus, making the house one of the few to produce its own grapes for its blends. Pinot Noir is the house's signature grape variety and represents 60% of the vineyard's vines.