Away from all the blows and whistles, is Bollinger a good champagne? As you already know, Bollinger has their tagline as ‘special Cuvee’ and you might wonder, what makes it so special. Well, being associated with Games Bond means a thing, but the qualities of this non-vintage wine are what matters.
So is Bollinger a good champagne? We actually aren’t going to tell you whether Bollinger champagne is good or bad, but we shall disclose to you its quality aspects. The final decision lies in your hands.
A Short History
Bollinger champagne is actually a family started and owned champagne. Starting in 1829, Athanase Louis Emmanuel Hennequin, Levieux Renaudin, and Jacques Bollinger joined hands to make a wine company called Renaudin Bollinger. A calculated move of Jacques Bollinger marrying Athanase’s daughter made them inherit the whole facility after the death of Athanase.
In 1854, Renaudin died, for his case, there was no heir, and therefore the single-family remained the sole owners of the company. Jacques Bollinger then made a fast move to rename the company to Société Jacques Bollinger making it officially a family company. To date, it stands as a family-owned company.
Why history? As you shall discover, Bollinger is a wine made out of a picky process. Each step proves exclusivity which is common for family-owned companies, the products are mostly standard, and Bollinger is not to be left out.
Bollinger’s Vineyard – Where it All Starts
With a 167 hectares piece of land put aside exclusively to grow grapes meant for Bollinger’s production. With such a large size of land, the grapes that make Bollinger are grown, monitored, and harvested by the company. This is in itself a proof of quality, given that most wine houses produce just 10% of its grapes.
For all the grapes grown on the 167 hectares, almost 60% is covered by the special red grape – pinot noir. That’s a guarantee that all bottles of Bollinger champagne come with at least 60% composition of the pinot noir. Pinot noir in wine makes it deeper and better in taste, no wonder the exclusive deep color and taste achieved by Bollinger champagne.
Reserve Wines and Oak Barrels
There is a big difference in wine stored in oak barrels compared to that done in stainless steel and other containers. With over 35,000 oak barrels, Bollinger manages to put over one million Bollinger bottles under fermentation in oak barrels.
Wine reserved in magnums has been proven to be way better than bottling, it ages slowly, deepens in color, and develops the best fizzing bubbles. Bollinger boasts over 750,000 magnums of reserve wine stored across villages.
Is Bollinger a Good Champagne? - Time for Aging
Bollinger ages wine for two times as long as others do. Giving much importance to the aging time, Bollinger claims a 3-year stock of fully aged wine.
Is Bollinger a Good Champagne? - Taste
The fruits
Bollinger uses 3 layers of fruits with different qualities. First is the fresh fruit that is drawn from the immediate harvest. Then follows reserve fruit that is drawn from their rich vat stores and lastly the precious fruit from the magnums stored across the villages. This is what is combined to bring you the special taste that Bollinger has.
Subtle and deep
Quality includes the deepness and quality of wine color. As noted earlier, Bollinger grows and adds at least 60% of quality pinot noir to the totality of the blend. The result is a deep color that not only attracts but makes the wine one of its kind.
Cream-like effervescence
Who doesn’t like the fizzling of whine once poured into their flute? Bollinger has given a keen note on this to achieve the cream-like effervescence that it produces. The creamy nature is what differentiates Bollinger from other kinds of wine.
To achieve such special creamy effervescence, Bollinger ages their wine for three years before distribution. Such a long time of quality keeping for fermentation allows the yeast to work and give optimum effervescence.
You could also read about the Taittinger champagne review.
Is Bollinger a Good Champagne? - Conclusion
Is Bollinger a good champagne? Bollinger is a wine made from a process we can describe as very picky. For once, Bollinger grows their own pinot noir which is premium in making the deep color, taste, and quality of the wine.
They blend this wine using three levels of fruits to make the taste exclusively special and unique to Bollinger. The move to keep and ferment Bollinger for three years gives enough time for fermentation, and the fizzling tiny bubbles you shall love.
Note that Bollinger is kept in magnums, which are the best in keeping and improving the quality of wine in terms of color and taste.
