The 12 Champagnes of Christmas
Nicknamed "The Red Burgundy House," every Bollinger Champagne has at least 60% Pinot Noir in the blend, and 68% of the Bollinger's grapes come from estate vineyards. These holding are largely centered around Aÿ, Champagne's historic Pinot Noir epicenter where the firm farms fifty well-situated acres. In 2020, Chef de Caves Gilles Descôtes debuted his Bollinger PN VZ15 (featuring Pinot Noir from Verzenay) to join their eighteen-hundred-dollars-a-bottle Vieilles Vignes Francaise as the firm's second 100% Pinot Noir Champagne. The concept of Descôtes Bollinger PN bottlings was to showcase a particular Pinot Noir cru to reveal that village's distinctive terroir and flavor signature. This PN AYC 2018 is the newest edition of his village-focused Pinot Noir Champagnes and, as the moniker suggests, it is based on the Grand Cru of Aÿ. 53% of the blend is from the warm, early ripening 2018 harvest and the rest is reserve wine largely from 2009 Verzenay (from magnums) plus dollops from 2017 and 2016. The 2018 component was fermented half in oak and half in tanks and finished with a light dosage of 6 grams/liter.
WINE ADVOCATE 94 POINTS - "Based on the 2018 vintage, complemented by reserve wines aged in magnum dating back to 2009, Bollinger's newly released NV Brut Blanc de Noirs PN AYC18 was disgorged this year with six grams per liter dosage. Foregrounding the village of Aÿ, a commune crucial to Bollinger's distinctive style, the wine wafts from the glass with aromas of golden orchard fruit, honeycomb, buttered toast, freshly baked bread and dried white flowers. Medium to full-bodied, pillowy and vinous, with an ample core of fruit that's girdled by lively acids and animated by an elegant pinpoint mousse, this suave, charming Champagne concludes with a chalky finish. This has turned out beautifully."
DECANTER 94 POINTS - "A wine of constant surprise and contrast, first with the heat and generosity of 2018 offering up voluminous roasted apricots and apples, a bittersweet orange citrus and peach kernel richness, a surprisingly silky and flowing mousse and finally an intriguing, smoky, reductive element coming from the magnum reserve wines. It’s a hugely engaging, detailed and rewarding wine, bold but refined. 100% Pinot Noir, predominantly from Aÿ, with support from the villages of Tauxières and Verzenay. Based on the 2018 vintage, with 50% reserve wines back to 2009. Drinking Window: 2024-2029."
WINE SPECTATOR 93 POINTS - "Mouthwatering and finely meshed, with density to the satiny texture, this marries bright acidity with flavors of ripe white cherry, biscuit, pickled ginger and candied grapefruit peel. Opens slowly on the palate, revealing layers of fragrant spices, mineral and dried flowers on the finish."
Nicknamed "The Red Burgundy House," every Bollinger Champagne has at least 60% Pinot Noir in the blend, and 68% of the Bollinger's grapes come from estate vineyards. These holding are largely centered around Aÿ, Champagne's historic Pinot Noir epicenter where the firm farms fifty well-situated acres. In 2020, Chef de Caves Gilles Descôtes debuted his Bollinger PN VZ15 (featuring Pinot Noir from Verzenay) to join their eighteen-hundred-dollars-a-bottle Vieilles Vignes Francaise as the firm's second 100% Pinot Noir Champagne. The concept of Descôtes Bollinger PN bottlings was to showcase a particular Pinot Noir cru to reveal that village's distinctive terroir and flavor signature. This PN AYC 2018 is the newest edition of his village-focused Pinot Noir Champagnes and, as the moniker suggests, it is based on the Grand Cru of Aÿ. 53% of the blend is from the warm, early ripening 2018 harvest and the rest is reserve wine largely from 2009 Verzenay (from magnums) plus dollops from 2017 and 2016. The 2018 component was fermented half in oak and half in tanks and finished with a light dosage of 6 grams/liter.
WINE ADVOCATE 94 POINTS - "Based on the 2018 vintage, complemented by reserve wines aged in magnum dating back to 2009, Bollinger's newly released NV Brut Blanc de Noirs PN AYC18 was disgorged this year with six grams per liter dosage. Foregrounding the village of Aÿ, a commune crucial to Bollinger's distinctive style, the wine wafts from the glass with aromas of golden orchard fruit, honeycomb, buttered toast, freshly baked bread and dried white flowers. Medium to full-bodied, pillowy and vinous, with an ample core of fruit that's girdled by lively acids and animated by an elegant pinpoint mousse, this suave, charming Champagne concludes with a chalky finish. This has turned out beautifully."
DECANTER 94 POINTS - "A wine of constant surprise and contrast, first with the heat and generosity of 2018 offering up voluminous roasted apricots and apples, a bittersweet orange citrus and peach kernel richness, a surprisingly silky and flowing mousse and finally an intriguing, smoky, reductive element coming from the magnum reserve wines. It’s a hugely engaging, detailed and rewarding wine, bold but refined. 100% Pinot Noir, predominantly from Aÿ, with support from the villages of Tauxières and Verzenay. Based on the 2018 vintage, with 50% reserve wines back to 2009. Drinking Window: 2024-2029."
WINE SPECTATOR 93 POINTS - "Mouthwatering and finely meshed, with density to the satiny texture, this marries bright acidity with flavors of ripe white cherry, biscuit, pickled ginger and candied grapefruit peel. Opens slowly on the palate, revealing layers of fragrant spices, mineral and dried flowers on the finish."
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