Bollinger Special Cuvee

Bollinger Special Cuvee a very special champagne

A rich, full-bodied champagne with depth that improves over decades

Special Cuvée is particularly enjoyable to drink at the moment. Aromas of nougat, hazelnut and orange peel give the silky, creamy palate an intensity that is also supported by mineral notes and finishes with a long nutty aftertaste.

This is certainly not the best choice for fans of fruity champagnes, but those who appreciate depth and complexity will find their happiness here.

Special Cuvee is legendary because it develops over decades into a sophisticated, full-bodied champagne with earthy, smoky, nutty Pinot Noir flavours. Production has increased and not only comes from old vines in the Ay region. So it makes little sense to store it for as long as the famous bottles from the 1960s, which are still rumoured to be great today.

But it still rightly bears its name Special Cuvee, which it was given back in 1911, as the English importer Menzendorf wanted to emphasise that it was much better than the usual brut that champagne houses use to offer an introduction to their champagne range;

Special Cuvee is not optimised for immediate enjoyment but can generally be enjoyed young nowadays. Still, it would be good to give the current bottling (base year 2019) another two years to mature. Five years would be even better. The distinctly nutty, earthy flavours will dominate the taste experience in about ten years, but they are not to everyone's taste.

The cuvée and how Special Cuvee is created

Like all Bollinger champagnes, the Special Cuvee is made predominantly from Pinot Noir, which dominates the blend with 60 per cent and provides body and structure. 25 per cent Chardonnay provides freshness and elegance. The remaining 15 per cent of the blend consists of Pinot Meunier grapes, which provide fruit and roundness. Around a fifth of the grapes for the Bollinger Special Cuvée come from the company's own Grand Cru and 1er Cru vineyards around Ay, 85 per cent of all grapes come from Grand and Premier Cru vineyards.

Half of the base wines for the Special Cuvee are now fermented in tanks. Two current vintages provide the base wines that make up the majority of the Cuvee. After malolactic fermentation, which was prevented in the past,  the base wines are blended with the reserve wines. The reserve wines are aged in oak barrels and matured in magnum bottles. They are aged for seven to fifteen years. With the end of the Covid Champagne boom, Bollinger has managed to increase the proportion of reserve wines. But even with the old low proportion of 12 to 15 % it is astonishing how this small proportion has an impact on the flavour. After just a few years of ageing in the bottle, these reserve wines make a decisive contribution to the smoky, nutty flavours.

James Suckling 93
William Kelley 92 robertparker.com Like its rosé counterpart, the latest release of Bollinger's NV Brut Special Cuvée is showing especially well, bursting from the glass with aromas of honeyed apples, crisp stone fruit, buttery pastry, ripe lemons and fresh walnuts. Medium to full-bodied, fleshy and vinous, with a deep core of beautifully ripe fruit, racy acids and a pillowy mousse, it's a charming, characterful wine that proves that Special Cuvée is firmly back where it belongs.

750 mL

12.5

Champagne

Pinot Noir & Chardonnay & Pinot Meunier

Sulphites

• Brut

France

Champagne Bollinger, 20 Boulevard Maréchal de Lattre, 51160 Aÿ, France