- Now at its peak drinking window
- Nutty Pinot Noir aromas, fine perlage
The PNVZ 15 smells of figs, cherries, elderberry, toast and pears. On the palate, we taste apricot, peach, hazelnut and yuzu. It is really enjoyable now, but promises even more in the future.
Bollinger's programme is conservative. New cuvées that are not just one-off editions are as rare as solar eclipses, as Richard Juhlin writes. With PN, Bollinger is aiming for a modern style. No oxidative ageing, some new wood, a more intense effervescence than RD and Grande Annee. It is certainly also an attempt to close the price gap between Special Cuvée and Grande Annee. Because, let's face it, Grande Annee has unfortunately become significantly more expensive. PN stands for Pinot Noir. VZ stands for the Grand Cru terroir Verzenay in the northern Montagne de Reims.
There have been a few vintage champagnes in the past that were produced exclusively from this fine terroir. However, Bollinger is usually associated with the warmer location of Ay, where the company's headquarters are also located. The PN VZ is not a pure Verzenay champagne. Although it dominates the cuvée, grapes from Ay, Tauxieres and Bouzy are also used. The top Bollinger cuvées were blended with wines from the Ay area, with Bouzy and Louvois also being used. As expected, the 2015 vintage is the base vintage, but 50 per cent of it consists of wines from the 2009 vintage, which were aged in magnums and then blended with the 2015 vintage. Future editions will focus on other terroirs. It is noticeable that the wine for Bollinger Prestige Champagne was not aged on the lees for as long. Nevertheless, it displays the typical rich, nutty Bollinger aromas.
