{"id":11513,"date":"2014-03-21T17:49:51","date_gmt":"2014-03-21T17:49:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.leaandsandeman.co.uk\/blog\/?p=11513"},"modified":"2014-03-21T17:50:25","modified_gmt":"2014-03-21T17:50:25","slug":"bollinger-tasting-the-vins-clairs-at-this-great-champagne-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.leaandsandeman.co.uk\/blog\/2014\/03\/bollinger-tasting-the-vins-clairs-at-this-great-champagne-house\/","title":{"rendered":"Bollinger – tasting the ‘Vins Clairs’ at this great Champagne House"},"content":{"rendered":"

A whistle-stop trip to Bollinger has been a great reminder of just how good this Champagne House is. From the outset it is clear that at Bollinger they really do not cut corners in their efforts to make the most of the raw materials they have.<\/p>\n

This starts in the vineyards where Bollinger now own almost 70 per cent of their own vines, giving them the control they need to be confident of the quality of the grapes they can work with.<\/p>\n

\"Bollinger<\/p>\n

I was there to learn about the selection process used to come up with the blend for their Special Cuv\u00e9e and so had a chance to taste their base wines or \u2018Vins Clairs<\/strong>\u2019 that go into the mix, to create the same house style year on year.<\/p>\n

\"Bollinger<\/p>\n

All champagne makers are looking for their \u2018house style\u2019 to continue seamlessly from one year to the next in their \u2018Non-Vintage\u2019 cuv\u00e9es.\u00a0 This must be done despite the vintage variations. \u00a0They achieve this by having a selection of parcels from various vintages and different villages to blend together and tweak the mix so that it remains unmistakably of the \u2018House\u2019.<\/p>\n

At Bollinger they have a catalogue of over 400 different ingredients<\/strong> they can call on to tweak the style.\u00a0 I tasted a selection of just 10 of these \u2018vins clairs\u2019 and was amazed at their individuality and expressiveness – and the dramatic spectrum of styles that they have to play with.<\/p>\n

It is a hugely impressive process. The bulk of the blend being put together does come from the recent harvest in September last year.\u00a0 As usual this will be made up of about 60% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay and 15% Pinot Meunier \u2013 but these grapes come from more than 20 different Cru Sites, each adding different nuances to the blend.<\/p>\n

The juice from the different grapes and different vineyards all arrive at the cellars with their own styles of course \u2013 and once assessed by the cellar master they will follow different paths.\u00a0 A large proportion of this juice will undergo its first fermentation in barrel, Bollinger leads the way in this use of oak, amongst the Grandes Marques of Champagne and they are the only house to employ their own cooper, such is their need for barrels.<\/p>\n

\"Bollinger<\/p>\n

Once fermented and they have their base wines, Bollinger shun the option to store it all in large vats.\u00a0 Instead they bottle, in magnums, anything not for immediate use, as this is the best way to store these still wines and allows for fascinating development \u2013 the winemaker even adds some yeast to start a very small fermentation, purely to raise the pressure in the bottle which adds stability. This can be much needed as some of these \u2018still\u2019 base wines are stored for more than 10 years before being used in the blend for the non-vintage Special Cuv\u00e9e.<\/p>\n

Amongst the Vins Clairs that I tasted were some magnums of \u2018Reserve Chardonnay\u2019 from 2005 \u2013 fermented in barrel and then stored in magnum for the last 9 years.\u00a0 This was fascinating to taste and stood up as a wine in its own right, but it will clearly add some depth and intensity to the blend of the Special Cuv\u00e9e being assembled this year.<\/p>\n

\"Bollinger<\/div>\n

Bollinger age their wines extensively, even the Non-Vintage spends three years in the cellar before disgorgement and then a further 3 to 6 months before being labelled and released.<\/p>\n

All this time and effort certainly pays dividends and the Special Cuv\u00e9e is a great champagne.<\/p>\n

\"Champagne<\/a><\/div>\n

2014 Boat Race Bollinger Offer<\/a><\/h2>\n

We have teamed up with Bollinger yet again this year in support of the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race.\u00a0 Bollinger is the official Champagne of the race and as this great event is a local favourite for our shops we are offering Bollinger Special Cuv\u00e9e at a very special price for a limited period around the race. \u00a0Offer Available from Saturday 22nd<\/sup> March until Friday 18th<\/sup> of April.
\n<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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