A rich, smoky Champagne, with hints of marzipan and fennel seed accenting honeyed malt, bread dough, baked apple and gingersnap flavors. It's all focused by intense acidity, which meshes beautifully into the layers of flavor and refined texture, with a lingering finish. Drink now through 2021." A Pinot Noir dominated blend that always includes a generous proportion of reserve wines. The biggest and boldest of the big house non-vintages, this is still made from mostly estate fruit. All of the reserve wines are aged in magnums under natural cork, and a large percentage of the fruit is still barrel fermented. In an age where a lot of the big houses are concentrating more on marketing and less on the product, Bollinger continues their tradition of quality. And, according to Wine Spectator: "Medium-bodied and rich, showing honey, bread dough and apple flavors, backed by a firm structure. Leaves a mouthwatering impression.
A blend par excellence, the Special Cuvée is the purest expression of the Bollinger style; of its craftsmanship and its singular conception of what a champagne should be. It is, therefore, on this wine that the House of Bollinger shows how it is different from other Champagne Houses, asserts its qualitative policy and by which it asks to be judged.
| Technical notes |
| The blend rests essentially upon the Pinot Noir of grands crus and premiers crus
The blends of Special Cuvée are on average composed of:
60% Pinot Noir
25% Chardonnay
15% Pinot Meunier
5 to 10% of reserve wines are incorporated into the blend. These reserve wines are kept by cru; by grape variety; by vintage, in magnums corked with real cork. This method is unique in Champagne and it enables Bollinger to keep its reserve wines for a long period without losing either their freshness or character. The veritable "library" of wines gives the House of Bollinger a vast and extremely precise palette to use for blending : the cru, grape variety, or year required can be selected to add the necessary touch to the blend for the Special Cuvée.
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