| Winery Location: | Aÿ |
| Year Established: | 1829 |
Vineyard Holdings
160 ha
64% of which are Grand Cru and Premier Cru. This includes their two vineyards Clos St. Jacques and Chaudes Terresin Aÿ, which have never succumbed to Phylloxera and are trained en provignage. The fruit from these two vineyards go into the rare „Vieilles Vignes Françaises.“ They also have the 4-ha Côte aux Enfants Pinot Noir vineyard in Aÿ, from which they produce a Coteaux Champenoise AOC wine and red base wines for rosé Champagne.
Top Wines Produced
- RD
- Grande Année
- Grande Année Rosé
- Vieilles Vignes Françaises
- Special Cuvée
- Rosé
Inaugural Vintages
- Vieilles Vignes Françaises: 1969 (released in 1974)
Average Total Production
- 2,520,000 bottles
Summary
The story of Bollinger is the story of three families: the Bollinger, the Renaudin, and the de Villermont. The Comte de Villermont was an aristocrat who owned vineyards in Aÿ but because of his status, he could not make wine from his land. He met Joseph Bollinger, a German, and Paul Renaudin, who both were interested in the wine trade. They started the winery on February 6th, 1829. Joseph went on to marry de Villermont’s daughter, and Renaudin left the winery, leaving the firm in the Bollinger family. The current winery building was originally a de Villermont property. In 1865 Bollinger shipped a „drier“ Champagne to England and in 1870 to the United States. During World War II the firm was run by the widow Madame Lily Bollinger. After keeping the estate alive through the war Bollinger purchased key vineyards in Aÿ, Grauves, Bisseuil, and Champvoisy. Today Jérôme Philippon is the first non-family member to run the firm, taking charge in 2008. Gilles Descôtes is now Chef de Cave.
Style & Vinification Techniques
The Special Cuvée is a non-vintage Champagne, which is generally Pinot Noir dominant with 25% Chardonnay and 15% Meunier. About a quarter of the base wine for the Special Cuvée ferments and ages in oak it is the only house that produces all of it’s own barrels. Bollinger keeps all of their reserve wines in magnums, putting aside 70,000 magnums a year into their reserve cellar which houses about 600,000 magnums. After blending, the wine ages for three years on it’s lees. The vintage wines are fermented and aged entirely in oak casks. The Grand Année is two-thirds Pinot Noir and one-third Chardonnay. It rests for sixty months on its lees before disgorgement. The RD is based on the Grand Année but is aged on it lees for an extended period of time and is generally an Extra Brut. The Grand Année is labeled Brut, with a typical dosage of 6 to 7 g/l.
Producer Website: Bollinger