Champagne Bollinger, PN AYC 18, Brut
Critics reviews
The NV PN AYC 2018 is the newest edition in Bollinger’s range of single village-based Champagnes, a series of wines created by former Chef de Caves Gilles Descôtes, who passed away earlier this year. Tense and vibrant, with notable saline intensity, the AYC (based on Aÿ) sizzles with energy.
Dried pear, crushed flowers, mint, sage, chalk and light pastry notes all race across the palate. This release is 53% 2018 and 47% reserve wines, a big part of which are Bollinger’s famous reserve magnums (in this case, 2009 Verzenay Pinot), plus dollops of 2017 and 2016 wines.
The 2018 was done in equal parts oak and tank. The dosage is 6 grams per litre, but the impression is of a slightly drier style. Combining a hot base vintage blended with a high proportion of reserve wines yields a Champagne of notable complexity and texture.
Drink 2023 – 2038
Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com (June 2023)
Based on 2018 but a blend containing reserve wine as old as 2009. Mainly from Aÿ, blended with other villages, predominantly Tauxières and Verzenay. Disgorged January 2023 (on the back label) with a dosage of 6 g/l.
Deep gold. Very Bollinger (mushroomy, lightly oaky, very savoury) on the nose. Very much a food wine, or a wine of meditation! Big and burly though certainly neither fat nor sweet. A real connoisseur's champagne – and not too fizzy. Very long and thought-provoking.
Drink 2023 - 2028
Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com (August 2023)
The fourth edition of Bollinger's limited PN series is the most expressive yet, with a hugely satisfying, expansive character. Dried pear, stewed Bramley apple, and nectarine melt into the depths of reserve wine complexity with chestnut honey and perfectly pitched savoury interest. It's surprisingly silky, the texture surprisingly weightless, the shape rounded and cushioned rather than strict or driving.
A highly rewarding Champagne, ready to drink but with interesting potential to evolve over the next five years. 100% Pinot Noir, predominantly from Aÿ, with support from the villages of Tauxières and Verzenay. Based on the 2018 vintage, with 50% reserve wines back to 2009.
Drink 2023 - 2030
Tom Hewson, Decanter.com (July 2023)
About this WINE
Bollinger
The Champagne House of Bollinger was established in 1829 by Jacques Bollinger and Paul Renaudin. Over the years the vineyard holdings have been steadily increased with the largest expansion taking place under the stewardship of the legendary Mme Lily Bollinger. She ran the company between 1941 and 1977 and today it is managed by her great-nephew, Ghislain de Montgolfier.
Bollinger has a reputation for producing muscular champagnes with body, depth and power, and is today considered one of the "Great" Champagne houses.
70% of the grapes come from the firm's own vineyards. 80% of the harvest is barrel-fermented with the wines being kept on their yeast lees for an extended period of time (in the case of the RD, around 10 years).
Bollinger produces classic, complex, Pinot-Noir dominated champagnes with the ability to age gracefully for many years.
Brut Champagne
Brut denotes a dry style of Champagne (less than 15 grams per litre). Most Champagne is non-vintage, produced from a blend from different years. The non-vintage blend is always based predominately on wines made from the current harvest, enriched with aged wines (their proportion and age varies by brand) from earlier harvests, which impart an additional level of complexity to the end wine. Champagnes from a single vintage are labelled with the year reference and with the description Millésimé.
Non-vintage Champagnes can improve with short-term ageing (typically two to three years), while vintages can develop over much longer periods (five to 30 years). The most exquisite and often top-priced expression of a house’s style is referred to as Prestige Cuvée. Famous examples include Louis Roederer's Cristal, Moët & Chandon's Dom Pérignon, and Pol Roger's Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill.
Recommended Producers : Krug, Billecart Salmon, Pol Roger, Bollinger, Salon, Gosset, Pierre Péters, Ruinart
Pinot Noir
Pinot Noir is probably the most frustrating, and at times infuriating, wine grape in the world. However when it is successful, it can produce some of the most sublime wines known to man. This thin-skinned grape which grows in small, tight bunches performs well on well-drained, deepish limestone based subsoils as are found on Burgundy's Côte d'Or.
Pinot Noir is more susceptible than other varieties to over cropping - concentration and varietal character disappear rapidly if yields are excessive and yields as little as 25hl/ha are the norm for some climats of the Côte d`Or.
Because of the thinness of the skins, Pinot Noir wines are lighter in colour, body and tannins. However the best wines have grip, complexity and an intensity of fruit seldom found in wine from other grapes. Young Pinot Noir can smell almost sweet, redolent with freshly crushed raspberries, cherries and redcurrants. When mature, the best wines develop a sensuous, silky mouth feel with the fruit flavours deepening and gamey "sous-bois" nuances emerging.
The best examples are still found in Burgundy, although Pinot Noir`s key role in Champagne should not be forgotten. It is grown throughout the world with notable success in the Carneros and Russian River Valley districts of California, and the Martinborough and Central Otago regions of New Zealand.
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Description
100% Pinot Noir
As one would expect from a 100% Pinot Noir, the PN AYC 18 is full-bodied and complex. The wine exudes Bollinger typicity, partly from the high levels of reserve wines (47%). 2018 was a fruit-forward champagne vintage, and you will find notes of red cherries, plums and orchard fruits in the wine. The palate is an alluring balance of vivacity and creamy texture.
Drink 2023 - 2035
Liam McKeown, Account Manager, Berry Bros. & Rudd (June 2023)
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