2002 Champagne

The Pol Roger Chardonnay is a fitting celebration of a great vintage from a superlative House. The high natural sugar levels of this near perfect vintage gave the base wine an average alcohol level of 10.5 degrees, but this was matched by fine natural acidity. Ideal in other words. The resulting Champagne, after a suitable slumber on its yeast, marries the youthful Chardonnay exuberance that one has come to associate with this cuvée with the gravitas of the vintage. Stone fruit notes, allied to brioche, iodine and honey all underwrite latent excellence.
Simon Field MW, BBR Buyer

The majestic Cuvée Elisabeth Salmon is made up of equal blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, with 10% red wine added by assemblage. The outstanding 2002 has a beautiful copper-pink hue and an attractive nose which marries hazelnut, red berries and spice.

The palate is equally enigmatic, both delicate and ripe, with a lively mousse yet a harmonious richness, persistent and deeply satisfying. 2002 is the greatest vintage since goodness knows when; the season was almost perfect for the Champenois , eclipsing other fine years such as 1998 and 1996…..This wine is a worthy benchmark of both the vintage and the burgeoning deluxe Rosé category.
Simon Field MW, BBR Wine Buyer

Good old Bollinger pioneered giving useful information on the back label. This wine, made from the produce of 16 Premier and especially Grand Cru villages is intense and savoury.
(Jancis Robinson - FT Top 100 Festive Wine - 26-Nov-2011)

An absolutely magnificent nose of melted butter on thick white toast with beguiling undertones of tropical fruits. (I know it sounds a tad romantic but it really does!) As complex on the palate, with a weight and breath that's totally compelling. Rich, round and profound this is truly one of the most exciting champagnes I've drunk. Gorgeous now but will grow and blossom beautifully over the next decade.
(Simon Staples, Berrys' Fine Wine Director)

This enticing blend of 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay has been fermented in oak and aged under natural cork until disgorgement in July of 2010, then allowed a respectable repose before its release. The nose is forthright and powerful, with orchard fruit and hints of honey evidenced, together with sherbet and grilled almond, all amazingly pure and precise. Intimations cede to certainties on the palate as encyclopaedic flavours defer to the reputations of vintage and House alike, with nutty, creamy notes, an elegant fruit scherzo with fine balancing acidity, and an authoritative finish, all perfectly integrated and wonderfully fresh.
(Simon Field MW, Berrys' Champagne Buyer)

It should come as no surprise that Pol Roger have delayed the release of their 2002 Vintage Champagne until 2012, in defiance of all commercial logic and the dictates of cash-flow. The reason is simple; 2002 is the best vintage in Champagne since 1990, a vintage which has not been equalled since and a vintage where the rewards of patience are and will continue to be very fine indeed. The wine was aged for nine years in Pol Roger’s famously deep cellars, kept at a constant 9 degrees, the perfect natural ambiance for gentle autolytic ageing and the nurturing of an exemplary equilibrium and a very fine and persistent mousse.
 
And as with all great things, fools rush in and the winemakers at Pol Roger, needless to say, are far from foolish. Indeed Cellar master Dominique Petit, formerly of Krug, is regarded as one of the greatest winemakers in the region and he knew from the out-set that the wine would need an unusually long cellaring before release. This, to borrow a phrase from another friend of Pol Roger, is his finest hour, thus far… The blend is a traditional one of 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay; after the double-débourbage (cold-settling) the first fermentation is in stainless steel, kept relatively cool. A full malolactic fermentation ensues, followed by the second fermentation in bottle and then the lengthy slumber beneath Avenue de Champagne in Epernay. The bottles are hand – tuned by remueurs, the prestidigitatory efforts of whom ensure the completion of  yeast autolysis and ensure a blameless richness and length on the palate.
Simon Field MW, Wine Buyer - June 2013

Cuvée Nicolas François was created in 1964 in deference to Billecart-Salmon’s eponymous founder; with the 2002 his successor, François Roland-Billecart feels that the wine has scaled new heights, with both the superb vintage conditions and the age of the vines, not to mention the subtle winemaking which now combines oak and stainless steel for the first fermentation, all conspiring towards perfection.

The extended ageing, over nearly a decade, has engendered greater autolytic harmony, hitherto concealed behind the wealth of orchard fruits and chalky zest. The palate adds notes of white tobacco, white peach, supple spice and intimations of Burgundian poise. For the more whimsical taster, Proustian madeleine may be detected, perhaps recalling great bygone vintages and posing the very real possibility that this will surpass them all.

The sine qua non of Champagne from the greatest vintage of the 21st century thus far, the best since 1990 to be more precise! Balance and power, potential and depth, a very very fine Cristal.
(Simon Field MW, BBR Buyer)

This is one of the finest Blanc de Blancs Champagne on the market, luminous of hue, rounded of form and lengthy in the memory. The distinctive clear bottle for Ruinart, Blanc de Blancs is based on an 18th century original; its Chardonnay persona is harmonious and elegant, capturing the House style.

The treat of treats this Christmas. Quite simply one of the greatest Champagnes I’ve sampled in ages. Sparky aromas, bright and tight, hints of toasty grilled nuts with intensely focused, very long-lasting flavours. A treasury of sensations to be cherished with every sip.
(Olly Smith - Mail on Sunday - 16-Dec-2012)

Les Comtes is one of the greatest of all-Chardonnay Champagnes, its fruit sourced from the finest Grand Cru sites of the Côte des Blancs. Blue chip provenance includes the villages of Avize, le Mesnil-sur-Oger and Cramant; the best of the best in other words. Or, doubly appropriate, given its luxuriant gustatory profile; la crème de la crème. 5% of the wine is aged in wood before spring bottling and the ensuing lengthy somnolence wherein the alchemical process of autolysis weaves its patient magic over a decade.

2002 is now recognised as the greatest Champagne vintage over the last quarter of a century. The Comtes is, unsurprisingly, utterly brilliant…Fresh almonds, vanillin and verbena are balanced by a generous biscuity, spicy brioche character and then a firm and discretely indulgent finish. Poise and power are powerfully poised….. here we clearly have an extremely noble count.
(Simon Field MW, BBR Buyer)

This is a very fine and pure Champagne offering from one of the most talented growers in the region. White flowers, hazelnuts and biscuit on the nose, with a lemony zip on the palate, give this a year or two in the cellar and enjoy anytime over the following five years.
Fergus Stewart, Fine Wine Account Manager

Fruits of a one hectare plot in the southern Grand Cru village of Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Salon is the most famous statement of Chardonnay Champagne that one is likely to encounter; aged for a decade and to be kept, if one has the patience, for another decade at least. Green gold colour then intense aromas of honeydew melon, nectarine and recently  cooked brioche. The palate has a linear shard of acidity, a Keatsean composure and yet real energy and dazzling potential. From the best vintage so far this century, surely a contender for the best wine of the century...so far!
Simon Field MW, Champagne Buyer

Bollinger’s 2002 R.D. was always going to be special.  A great vintage, a grand house and a magnificent pedigree.  From the very start, it flows into the glass creating a superb, creamy mousse which leads on to brioche and honeyed hints signifying all the richness, weight and sheer concentration that late-disgorgement brings to the best Champagne.  That gorgeous creaminess first seen at pouring comes through again, tight knit and in multiple waves of different hues and flavours before finally finishing fresh, youthful and even zesty.  A terrific wine and one to intrigue for decades – on those very special occasions.
Tom Cave – Cellar Plan Manager
 
With the anticipated excitement around the quality of the 2002 vintage, this wine was bound to be thrilling and we are not disappointed.  There is a full and lively mousse, an effervescence that accentuates the aromas of hazelnut, manuka honey, gunflint, white flowers and dried Verbena on the nose.  At first the palate is rich, open and full with swathes of ripe pear and honey and yet in a matter of moments this opulence turns in on itself.  The tension and nerve on the back of the palate is incredible, the acidity and energy is taut and steely, much like a playful and yet painfully shy child.  This 2002 R. D. is complex and cerebral.  Full of intrigue now but one that will last for years.
Stuart Rae – Private Account Manager