Any Recent Experience with 1996 Bollinger Vielles Vignes?

Next weekend, some friends who are crazy about champagne will be visiting us in Philadelphia. They live a long way away and are rarely in the country at the same time, so we are very excited they can make the trip for lunch at our house. The wine theme will obviously be champagne, and we’d like to open one bottle that is really special. They told us a while ago they had never had any vintage of the Bollinger Vielles Vignes, despite being big fans of the house. I have also never had a VV (Jonathan has, of course – lucky cur), so we are considering opening a 1996 Bollinger VV. Circumstances couldn’t be better – no travel, except up the stairs from the cellar, an appreciative audience, and the holiday season, including my birthday.

I checked CellarTracker and see no recent notes. Has anyone had it lately? I’m particularly interested in how it is showing so as to decide where in a line-up it would best fit, with or without food, things like that. Given the small group and desire to spend plenty of time with each wine, we will probably only open a few bottles.

Thanks in advance,

S

Sarah,

I had a bottle a few months ago and was surprised at how lively and vibrant it was. It is also very rich and would definitely be best with food and not on its own. Consistent with the bottle I had last year. It’s probably my favorite vintage of VVF.

Thanks Ray. That’s very helpful. I’m excited for this one!

Sarah:

I’ve not had the 96 VVF in a while, but did have 88, 90 and 92 fairly recently. Each was a bit more advanced than I would have expected, lending some additional data points to my sense that (for me) 100% pinot cuvees don’t necessarily age as gracefully as BdB or blends. My recollection of 96 is similar to Ray’s; it did quite well with a yakitori course that was heavy on organ meats. Hope your bottle shines for you and your guests. Best to Jonathan.

Agree on both counts. Part of the reason why the '96 is my favorite vintage.

Sarah, I checked and while I had several bottles of Bollinger VV during a short period of time about 8 years ago and occasional bottles prior, none was the 1996. Still, given the rarity of the wine and- thus- rarity of tasting notes, I would add a cautionary note along the lines of what others have said above.

The wine is incredible, but I have found it does not age well- at least not to my taste. It develops a very strong sherry note and shows quite advanced for me after around 18-20 years from the vintage- give or take.

If the 1996 is still doing well, that is great news- but based on personal experience I would drink soon.

That was the era of some horrible conditions in the USA champagne channel.

For instance, much of the 1988 & 1990 Salon, which ended up at retail in the USA, was completely shot from heat damage.

I have no idea whether Bollinger was released at the same time, or whether Bollinger made its way through the same importers & distributors, but whenever I see “1988” & “1990”, I get worried.

Sarah- I had the 1996 VVF at a dinner at Atera about 18 months ago. Ray was actually upstairs that night at a separate event. It is a beautiful bottle of wine, but I wouldn’t hold it. It has signature 1996 acid, but there is something about VVF in that vintage and other vintages that is a little out of balance and seems to impede long aging. It also has a fair amount of nuttiness and caramel to it, while still being pretty fresh. Most of the folks at the dinner, one of whom may be the biggest VVF collector in the country, said 1996 is their favorite VVF of the last 25-30 years.

Not taking issue with your comment, but the bottles I am referring to were imported directly into Japan.

Nathan,

While US importers and distributors are and have been a huge problem, Salon had major issues not just in '88 and '90, but from '82-'90. Those issues were hardly just from heat damage by the transportation to the US.
Most vintages of VVF not being able to age well also has little to do with US distribution.

Thanks all, very helpful suggestions and context.

My last bottle was late September 2017 and it was drinking really well. I can’t expect it to have changed very much in the 14 or so months since. Report back on the lunch please!

Thank you and will do. Watch this space next Sunday.