Bollinger

Coordinates: 49°03′14″N 4°00′28″E / 49.0538571°N 4.0077952°E / 49.0538571; 4.0077952
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

49°03′14″N 4°00′28″E / 49.0538571°N 4.0077952°E / 49.0538571; 4.0077952

Bollinger
Champagne (wine region)
Cases/yr100,000
Known forVieilles Vignes Françaises and R.D. (prestige)
Grande Année and Grande Année Rosé (vintage)
Special Cuvée (non-vintage)
VarietalsPinot noir, Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier
Websitewww.champagne-bollinger.com Edit this at Wikidata

Bollinger (French pronunciation:

Champagne under the Bollinger name, including the vintage Vieilles Vignes Françaises, Grande Année and R.D. as well as the non-vintage Special Cuvée. Founded in 1829 in Aÿ
by Hennequin de Villermont, Paul Renaudin and Jacques Bollinger, the house continues to be run by members of the Bollinger family. In Britain, Bollinger Champagnes are affectionately known as "Bolly".

History

Bollinger has roots in the

wine making
, though not under their family name. In 1750, Villermont settled in the location 16 rue Jules Lobet, which would eventually become the head office for Bollinger.

In 1803 Jacques Joseph Placide Bollinger was born in

and others.

The Champagne house Renaudin Bollinger was founded on 6 February 1829 in Aÿ by Hennequin de Villermont, Paul Levieux Renaudin and Jacques Bollinger. The partners agreed that the Villermont name would not be used on the labels, hence the house name Renaudin Bollinger. Starting when Jacques Bollinger married Charlotte de Villermont, the house has been managed by the Bollinger family. Even though Paul Renaudin passed without an heir to his name, the label did not become solely Bollinger until the 1960s.

Founder Jacques Joseph Bollinger married Charlotte de Villermont. The couple had a daughter, Marie, who had two sons Joseph and Georges. These sons took over the company in 1885 and began expanding the family estate by purchasing vineyards in nearby villages. The sons also developed the image of the brand, such as when Bollinger received a

.

Expansion under Lily Bollinger

A notice showing Lily Bollinger's saying about champagne (St Peter Port, Guernsey)

In 1918 Jacques Bollinger, the son of Georges, took over the company. Jacques married Emily Law de Lauriston Boubers, known as "Lily". Jacques further expanded the facilities by building new cellars, purchasing the Tauxières vineyards, and acquiring the assets of another Champagne house on Boulevard du Maréchal de Lattre de Tassigny, where Bollinger's offices are presently located.

When Jacques Bollinger died in 1941, Lily Bollinger took over. Lily expanded production through the purchase of more vineyards, but is better known for traveling the world to promote the brand. Lily was well-publicized in the Champagne region, leaving several noteworthy quotes.

I drink it when I’m happy and when I’m sad. Sometimes I drink it when I’m alone. When I have company I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I’m not hungry and drink it when I am. Otherwise, I never touch it—unless I’m thirsty.[1]

Lily managed Bollinger until 1971, when her nephews Claude d'Hautefeuille and Christian Bizot succeeded her.

Modern day

Bollinger Champagne house in Ay

Bollinger was modernized under the direction of Claude d'Hautefeuille, who acquired additional vineyards and developed the brand internationally. Following Claude, his cousin Christian Bizot took over the Bollinger house. In addition to expanding the world distribution of Bollinger, Bizot developed a Charter of Ethics and Quality in 1992. Since 1994, Ghislain de Mongolfier has managed Bollinger. A great-grandson of the founder, Mongolfier has also served as president of the Association Viticole Champenoise since 2004, after leading the Commission of Champagne for 10 years.

In April of 2021, Bollinger finalized a purchase of Willamette Valley's Ponzi Family Winery in Oregon Wine Country, on the West Coast of the United States. The region has been known to grow some of the best Pinot Noir wine grapes in the world, and this purchase marks another esteemed French producer becoming more involved in American West Coast wine production.[2]

The winemaker has also used the

No Time To Die, a 40 year anniversary beverage was released, the Special Cuvée 007 Limited Edition.[3][4][5]

Wines

Bollinger's Special Cuvee

Bollinger is one of the few remaining independent Champagne houses. Family-managed since 1889, Bollinger maintains more than 150 hectares of vineyards. It currently produces the following sparkling wines:

  • Special Cuvée (non-vintage): The Bollinger house style. This Champagne blend uses grapes from a given year, with the addition of reserve wines. Champagne author Tom Stevenson describes the house style as "classic, Pinot-dominated Champagnes of great potential longevity and complexity" which "tends to go toasty."[6] The blend includes up to 10% reserve wines, which may be up to fifteen years old. Special Cuvée are aged in the lees for at least five years before release. (Composition: 60% Pinot noir, 25% Chardonnay, 15% Pinot Meunier.)
  • Grande Année (vintage): this Champagne is also available as a
    crown seal
    . (Composition: 65% Pinot noir, 35% Chardonnay.)
  • R.D. (vintage): it spends at least eight years on its lees, and like the Grand Année, is aged under cork, not crown seal. R.D. is a registered trademark of Bollinger which stands for récemment dégorgé ("recently disgorged"). In the mid-1990s, Bollinger sold Année Rare, which was an R.D. that had undergone longer aging on the lees.
  • Vieille Vignes Françaises (vintage): a
    vines are trained rather than the age of the rootstock. The low-density vineyards, Clos St-Jacques in Aÿ and Chaudes Terres in Aÿ, are severely pruned, and produce 35% less juice per vine, creating a "super rich wine."[8] In 2005, phylloxera destroyed the third vineyard used for this wine, Croix Rouge in Bouzy.[9]

Reserve wines

Every harvest, Bollinger saves some wines from the grand crus and premier crus for reserve wines. The reserves are bottled in magnums with cork, under light pressure and aged for five to fifteen years.

Production

Marker for one of Bollinger's estate vineyards

Bollinger is fermented in oak barrels, and at harvest, usually only the first pressing is used, the cuvée. Bollinger sells some second pressings, the

tailles
. It utilizes two pressing houses, Louvois and Mareuil sur Aÿ.

The first fermentation is done cru by cru, variety by variety. Wines that will not hold up to first fermentation in wood are

riddled
by hand.

At

brut
R.D. is dosed between 4 and 5 grams. After dosage, the wines are aged an additional several months, resting for a minimum of three months before shipping. The champagnes are shipped ready to be consumed.

Grape supply

Bollinger owns nearly 160 hectares of vines, producing more than 60% of its supply. The vines are predominantly Pinot noir, specifically clone 386. The vineyards also include some ungrafted French vines from before the

Aÿ, Bouzy and Verzenay
.

List of Villages with size of holding and rating[11]

Corporate structure

The holding company for Bollinger is Société Jacques Bollinger, whose holdings in France also include Ayala Champagne, Maison Chanson in Burgundy, Langlois-Chateau in the Loire valley and Delamain in Cognac.[12] In Australia, Société Jacques Bollinger has invested in the Tapanappa Winery located in the Wrattonbully wine region in Australia.[13] Other partners in the Tapanappa Winery are Jean Michel Cazes of Château Lynch-Bages and Brian Croser, formerly of Petaluma Winery.[14]

See also

  • List of Champagne producers

References

  1. About.com. Archived from the original
    on 2015-12-08. Retrieved 2015-11-30.
  2. ^ "Bollinger Owners Buy Oregon's Ponzi Vineyards". Retrieved 2021-04-07.
  3. ^ "Bollinger Champagne". 18 March 2021. Retrieved 2021-03-20.
  4. ^ "Skyfall sponsors". 007museum.com. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
  5. ^ "Bollinger releases limited James Bond Champagne for 007 movie". vino-joy.com. 1 October 2020.
  6. .
  7. ^ Cyril Ray, Bollinger, tradition of a Champagne family, 2nd ed. 1982 Heinemann
  8. .
  9. ^ Eric Asimov (2006-06-14). "A Champagne True to Its Roots". The New York Times. Retrieved 2015-11-30.
  10. ^ Tom Stevenson, Champagne, Sotheby's Publications, 1988 at p. 201.
  11. ^ Tom Stevenson, Champagne, Sotheby's Publications, 1988, pp. 200–201.
  12. ^ "Jacques Bollinger Company - Langlois-Chateau". Retrieved 2015-11-30.
  13. ^ "Our Story: The Evolution of Tapanappa". Tapanappa Wines Pty Ltd. Retrieved 2015-11-30.
  14. ^ "Brian Croser, Petaluma and Tapanappa, part three". Retrieved 2015-11-30.

External links