Champagne Bollinger

The name of this wine is written without an accent on 'Special' ever since Georges Bollinger’s British agent gave him the idea for the name in 1911.

This is a delicate harmony between harvest grapes and reserve wines that have been partially aged in magnums for between five and fifteen years.

There's a fine golden colour suggestive of a Pinot-rich champagne, and streams of very fine bubbles, with enticing aromatic complexity that brings together baked apples, peaches and fruit preserves. The flavours carried on the velvety bubbles range from fresh apple and pear juiciness to warm, subtly spicy nut and brioche notes, making this a sumptuous treat on any occasion—full-bodied, structured and long in the mouth, but at the same time discreet and refined.

With its gently spicy red fruit character, Bollinger Rosé is a luxurious accompaniment at afternoon tea, Bollinger-style.

There are few better choices for a special picnic on a summer afternoon, and it makes a wonderful aperitif as well as a great match for fresh fruit pastries and desserts.

Its rich, coppery pink colour is reflected in the depth of its fresh fruit flavours, which offer an enticing blend of structure, power and lively energy at the redcurrant and strawberry end of the taste spectrum. It's smooth, supple and irresistible.

Delicate suggestions of tobacco, chocolate, mocha and coffee are followed by aromas of dried flowers and paeonies, and these evolve into notes of dried fruit and greengage jam.

In the mouth, the wine has a satisfying fullness and unmistakable density, bringing together flavours of fruit conserves and and honey before a long, fresh finish with tangerine and citrus vigour.

A vintage rosé is a rare treat, and this 2006 succeeds in its aim of expressing fully the unique identity of the vintage.

The year was so good, in fact, that Bollinger were able to make a one-of-a-kind red wine to show off the winery's skill and expertise with Pinot Noir.

Bollinger R(ecently) D(isgorged) is an 'extra brut' champagne, with a very low dosage and a consequent purity and dryness that shows off the exceptional quality of the vintage fruit.

The wine is aged for four times longer than the appellation requires, giving an extraordinary richness and depth to the original fruit flavours, transformed by time and oak ageing into luscious, sweetly spicy harmonies of preserved fruit and golden, concentrated fullness.

Bollinger recommend that this special cuvée be served at an initial temperature as low as 8°C so that all its modulations and subtleties can be appreciated as it warms to the temperature of the room.

The R.D. style recalls the custom among champagne houses of keeping old wines for their own consumption, disgorging them shortly before tasting to yield the perfect combination of absolute freshness with the rich aromatics of a mature wine.