NV Bollinger Champagne Special Cuvée Brut- France, Champagne (6/3/2017)
Jancis Robinson and Brad Baker “The Champagne Warrior” have suggested that frugal fans of Champagne Bollinger buy their non-vintage “Special Cuvee” on release (particularly if you really like that cuvee) and cellar the bottles for 5 to 10 years before consuming. The theory is that with the extra time under cork the wine will come to resemble Bollinger’s vintage Grande Annee but at a fraction of the cost. I’ve done this for years with very good results but stopped when the price of the Special Cuvee went up.
I cellared this case in December 2010. They are lot number L017505 (LYDDDBB). This wine was labelled June 24, 2010, 5th Batch of the day. It was most likely disgorged sometime in the three months prior and is therefor most likely based on the 2006 vintage. Enough said!
Bright but decidedly golden color with a very tight and persistent mousse. The nose is bright and fresh with notes of preserved lemon, dried citrus peel and exotic spices. It is amazingly young on the palate with bright citrus and stone fruit flavors. While it has lost some intensity, it is poised and balanced. Less oxidative than several more recent cuvees, this must have been unusually tight on release. 91pts. Drink as soon as is appropriately convenient. (91 pts.)
for many years have told all who care to listen
that the most economical means of drinking topflight champagne
is to buy a case of this and forget about it in the basement
for a few years…
quite fine and remarkably consistent for this day and age.
Bollinger Special Cuvee is excellent to start and responds really well to cellaring for 5-10 years.
Many NV champagnes will improve with at least three years of age, or more. As an example, I’m not a fan of Veuve Cliquot Yellow Label when it’s new, but it improves significantly with 3-5 years on it, and magnums are excellent after 10 years.
We polished off a case of this for my sisters 70th birthday party. Everyone loved the champagne. Always fun when those that do not regularly drink good champagne have some, they always go back for more.
the price now is silly but krug nv (mv) ages better than some vintage champagnes. i’ve been to several tastings where krug nv triumphed over blue chip vintage bottles - including clos de mesnil.
I get gifted quite a few bottles of NV Champagne, pretty much all of them are from the mass production houses,
Generally I thank the people for their thoughtful gift and put it in the cellar and promptly forget I own it, this went on for a few years.
one day I was digging around in my chaotic stack of boxes and started uncovering my lost cache of NV gifts.
Lanson, Mumm, Piper, Roederer and Bollinger were big improvers. Moet was pretty ordinary with a few years age, but probably wasnt very good to start with
once upon a time some 15 years agogo, i was sitting at dinner in Taillevent in Paris,
having ordered a bottle of Jaquesson Signature ’85 to go with most of the dégustation,
and a 375 of Tollot-Beaut for the lammington and the potential subsequent cheeserie…
Jacqui was not great. was not horrible, but did not sing like the subsequent sample
i consumed for lunch one day months later at 11 Madison Park…
was not corked, not oxidised, but i did not love it; i summoned the sommelier,
and in my vile but fluent French requested that he taste the wine.
the fellow must’ve had cubes of purest brass, because he was a Quebecois
working in one of the fanciest joints in Paris…
but he dutifully tasted my bottle, agreed that it was not up to snuff,
seized it by the throat and disappeared into the kitchen…
from which he emerged small minutes later,
in his paw a half-full (or half-empty; ça depend)
mag of Krug NV, which he planked down on my table and smiled.
‘this was’, il dit, ‘left over from luncheon today;
Remy Krug came to visit, and we brought this magnum up from our cellar,
where it had lain for the last dozen years.’
of course i had glasses brought for my neighbouring table and shared,
but twas one of the best Champagnes on the alltime checkerboard of my checkered career –
and i have drunk some of the finest.
I recently popped a mag of Veuve Cliquot NV that was sitting in my cellar for a good 5yrs and it was significantly better than I anticipated. It was pleasantly enjoyable.
ˆ
Cliquot’s NV etiquette jaune is pretty lame,
but they take a great deal of trouble with the vintage rosé
and with la Grande Dame
‘89 LGD from magnum was one of the best wines of my last decade;
‘69 rosé from magnum one of my best wines ever.
Good to know. I’ve been getting that as a house champagne. Thanks!
Also, I bought some older NV Taittinger Champagne Brut Réserve / La Française at auction and they were fantastic. We estimate they were 10-15 years from release, but we couldnt find bottles that matches the ones we had.
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