Tasting Notes
Vinous 90
(60% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay and 15% Pinot Meunier; 8 g/l dosage; L1403801): Pale yellow. Toasty aromas of apple and pear nectar are complemented by hints of toffee, honey and orange zest. Full and expansive on the palate, offering ripe orchard and pit fruit flavors and an undercurrent of smoky minerals and buttered toast. Smooth and gently spicy on the clinging, nicely focusd finish.
Robert Parker 92
Disgorged in May 2021, the latest rendition of Bollinger’s NV Brut Special Cuvée is showing beautifully, offering up aromas of ripe orchard fruit, citrus oil and peach, mingled with hints of walnuts and freshly baked bread. Medium to full-bodied, fleshy and enveloping, with a generous core of fruit, lively acids and a pillowy mousse, it’s seamless and complete, concluding with an expansive finish.
Anticipated maturity: 2021-2035
JancisRobinson.com 16.5
60% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay, 15% Pinot Meunier. Bollinger don’t talk about which wine their non-vintage blends are based on because reserve wines constitute a good 50% of the blend. This was bottled in 2013 and disgorged in 2016 so 2012 is the youngest vintage. 150+ different wines in the blend. Maybe six or seven different vintages. Very firm, Bollinger savoury style on the nose with a bone-dry finish and lots of chewiness. Dried apple-skin flavours. Really long. A fan of flavours on the end. Very distinctive.
Anticipated maturity: 2016-2020