BOLLINGER

100% pinot noir (PN); 80% from estate vineyards; 47% Aÿ-Champagne (hence AYC 18), 21% Verzenay, 21% Tauxières and 11% Avenay; 50% 2018 fermented half in oak barrels and half in stainless-steel tanks; 25% reserve magnums of Aÿ 2009 and 25% 2017 and 2016 reserves from tanks; 6g/L dosage; disgorged January 2023.

‘The creation of this cuvée is still a competition like its predecessors, but it’s now between the villages rather than between the winemakers. The goal is to have the main village not only in the base vintage but also in the reserve wines. This is increasingly difficult, as while we are keeping an increasing number of reserve wines and have good volumes of reserves from Aÿ, we didn’t have, for instance, any from Tauxières until recent years. So in future we will have better opportunities to include reserve magnums from the core village for blends like TX.

‘2018 was a wonderful year for me, at the level of 2008! Warmer, yes – it was very early and we commenced harvest on 24 August – but we had perfect sunny conditions and perfect balance between sugar and acidity. Nature was very generous, and this explains the level of acidity, which was very good (5.5g/L total acidity). Like 2008, we had very cool nights, which was perfect to achieve secondary metabolism, finesse and salinity, which are constructed during the night. I worry about harvesting earlier and earlier as a result of our advancing ripening seasons, and about more hot nights, which are not really what we want. We need really cold nights – this is the key for making great wines in Champagne.

‘We played on the five pillars of the style and pushed everything up here: 80% from estate vineyards, 50% fermented in oak barrels (cf 10% in Special Cuvée and 100% in La Grande Année), and 50% reserves including 25.5% reserve magnums of 2009 Ay.’ – Denis Bunner

PN AYC18 is a showpiece for the expansive dimensions, intoxicating allure and purity of Aÿ pinot noir; a wonderfully characterful blanc de noirs that celebrates the sumptuous fruit generosity of 2018 and the purity and precision of this fabled cru. With the generous tones of a full straw hue with a blush tint, it ripples with grand fruit depth of red cherries and perfectly ripe plums. The magnificent depth of complexity that is Bollinger rumbles in deep reserves, reminiscent of fruit mince spice and dried nectarines. I love that it is so emphatically Aÿ, so intrinsically Bollinger, and yet transposed with the transparency and delicious fruit generosity that is 2018. It holds fantastic, succulent allure on a very long finish; the ripeness of this harvest translating in supple, silky fruit generosity, yet in no way heavy or broad, beautifully energised by the fine chalk salinity and pure acid freshness that make Aÿ such a beloved place.

Tasted in 2023 Rating: 97 Tyson Stelzer - The Champagne Guide (Jul 2024)