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Bollinger is a brand of champagne (see all other Bollingers). Image File history File links Bollinger. ...
Image File history File links Bollinger. ...
Champagne is often consumed as part of a celebration Champagne is a sparkling wine produced by inducing the in-bottle secondary fermentation of wine to effect carbonation. ...
Champagne
 Special Cuvée Bollinger Champagne Bottle. Bollinger is one of the last remaining independent champagne houses. It produces two champagne blends: Special Curvée, and Grand Année. Family managed since 1889, Bollinger maintains more than 150 hectacres of vineyards. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2576x1932, 619 KB) Own image. ...
Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2576x1932, 619 KB) Own image. ...
- Special Cuvée (non-vintage) – The expression of the Bollinger House style. This classic champagne blend uses grapes from a given year, with the addition of reserve wines. The blend includes up to 10% reserve wines, fermented in oak for up to fifteen years. This gives the special cuvee complexity and structure absent in many other non-vintage champagnes. The reserve wine allows the champagne to withstand several years of bottle age after release. (Composition: 60% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay, 15% Pinot Meunier.)
- Grand Année (vintage) – When there is an exceptional harvest, Bollinger will produce the prestige champagne Grand Année, meaning “great vintage,” designed to express the character of the vintage. The House will select the best wines, cru by cru, to produce Grand Année. This fine champagne is also available in Rose. This champagne spends five years on its lees and is aged with cork, instead of crown seal. (Composition: 65% Pinot Noir, 35% Chardonnay, 0% Pinot Meunier.)
- R.D. (récemment dégorgé) (vintage) - This blend is “a logical extension” of the Grand Année blend, that is “taken further by extending the aging on lees.” R.D. spends eight years on its lees, and also, like the Grand Année, aged under cork, not crown seal. It is “recently filtered.”
- Vieille Vignes Françaises (vintage) – Regarded as Bollinger's prestige cuvee. This blanc de noirs is made in small quantity with only wine from three small plots of ungrafted vines planted with a low density (3000 plants / hectacre). These vines are the Clos St-Jacques in Aÿ, Chaudes Terres in Aÿ, and Croix Roge in Bouzy. The total area of vines used for this rare champagne is less than half a hectacre.
Pinot noir grapes at Chehalem Ridgecrest Vineyard, Newberg, Oregon Pinot noir is a variety of Vitis vinifera, the red grape used commonly in winemaking. ...
Oak-aged Chardonnay is particularly popular in the United States. ...
Pinot Meunier, also known as Schwarzriesling or Müllerrebe, is a variety of black wine grape most frequently used in the production of Champagne. ...
Production Bollinger is fermented in oak barrels, making the champagne especially suited to aging in the cellar. At harvest, only the first pressing is used, the cuvée, unless the vintage is of particularly high quality, when a second pressing of Chardonnay will be used. Bollinger sells the second pressing, the tailles.
Bollinger utilizes two pressing houses (Louvois and Mareuil sur Aÿ) to ensure a short distance between harvest location and pressing. When possible grapes purchased from growers are pressed by the House. When the pressed wine arrives, the Bollinger cellar master analyzes the musts for quality, discarding and selling off those that do not meet the house standards.
The first fermentation is done cru by cru, variety by variety, preserving many of the unique characteristics of the vines location. Bollinger is one of the only champagne houses to do some first fermentation in oak barrels. Wines that will not hold up to first fermentation in wood are vinified in vats. Bollinger uses only traditional yeasts, having decided that new generations of yeasts (agglomerated yeasts and encapsulated yeasts) do not produce satisfactory champagne.
Vintage wine, including all wine to be used in Grand Annee, is fermented in small oak barrels, sorted according to origin and variety. Both oak and stainless steel are used for non-vintage wine. Bollinger employs the last Cooper in Champagne, assisting with the Houses barrel fermentation. The oak barrels are all at least four years old, avoiding the transfer of tannins to the wine. The wines are only lightly filtered. A cooper readies the end of a barrel at the Van Ryn Brandy Cellar near Stellenbosch, South Africa The barrel is sealed with a lid, waterproofed using reed leaves, and the end-ring fitted Traditionally, a cooper is someone who makes wooden barrels, casks, buckets and other similar wooden objects. ...
All Bollinger champagne spends an exceptionally long time on its lees, contributing to the complex flavor the wine. Though Appellation rules only require 15 months on lees for non-vintage champagne and three years on lees for vintage, House of Bollinger ages their non-vintage three years, and the vintage five to eight years. The Grand Année and R.D. champagnes are riddled by hand.
At disgorgement, Bollinger wines are given a low dosage, to maintain the balance and flavor of the wine. The House uses 6-9 grams of sugar per liter for the Special Cuvée and La Grande Année. The extra-brut R.D. is dosed between 4 and 5 grams. After dosage, the wines are aged an additional several months, resting for a minimum of three months before shipping.
Bollinger only ships champagne ready to be consumed.
Grape Supply Bollinger owns nearly 160 hectacres of vines, producing more than 60% of Bollinger’s supply. The vines are predominantly Pinot Noir. Bollinger’s vineyards are predominantly Pinot Noir, specifically clone 386. Bollinger believes this clone ensures good quality as well as highlighting “characteristics of the various terriors.”
The vineyards also include some rare ungrafted French vines from before the phylloxera epidemic. The House owns vines in the heart of the Champagne region, including the crus of Aÿ, Bouy and Verzenay. Grape Phylloxera (Daktulosphaira vitifoliae, family Phylloxeridae, superfamily Aphidoidea) is a serious pest of commercial grapevines worldwide, originally native to eastern North America. ...
Ay is a commune of the Marne département in northeastern France. ...
Bouy is a commune of the Marne département in France. ...
Reserve Wines Every harvest, Bollinger saves some wines from the grand crus and premier crus for reserve wines. The reserves are bottled in magnums with cork, under light pressure and aged for five to fifteen years. Bollinger maintains a large library of more than 300,000 magnums, saved cru by cru, year by year. Bollinger’s reserve wine system is unique in Champagne, and contributes to the unique style of the House Special Cuvée.
History The champagne house Renaudin Bollinger was founded on February 6, 1829 in Aÿ by Hennequin de Villermont, Paul Renaudin and Jacques Bollinger. At the founding, the partners agreed that the Villermont name would not be used on the labels, hence Renaudin Bollinger. Starting when Jacques Bollinger married Charlotte de Villermont, the House has been managed by the Bollinger family. Even though Paul Renaudin passed without an heir his name, Renaudin, remained on the champagne labels until the 1960s, however. Today, the Bollinger champagne house continues to be operated by the Bollinger family, five generations after its founding. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1829 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...
The champagne House has roots in the Champagne region dating back to 1585 when the Hennequins, one of the Bollinger founding families, owned land in Cramant. Before the Bollinger House was founded, in the 18th Century the Villermont family practiced wine making, though not under their family name. In 1750, Villermont settled in the location 16 rue Jules Lobet, which would eventually become the head office for Bollinger. In 1803 Jacques Joseph Placide Bollinger was born in Ellwanger, in the kingdom of Wurtemberg. At an early age he began working at the Champagne House of Muller Ruinart, a house no longer existing, when Bollinger came to the Champagne region in 1822. Jacques Joseph Bollinger was one of many German nationals to settle in the Champagne region. Other notable names include Johann-Josef Krug and the Heidsiecks, who founded a house that would become Charles Heidsieck, Piper Heidsieck,[Veuve Clicquot and others. Events March 2 - Small earthquake in London, England April 4 - Small earthquake in Warrington, England August 23 - Small earthquake in Spalding, England September 30 - Small earthquake in Northampton, England November 16 – Westminster Bridge officially opened Jonas Hanway is the first Englishman to use an umbrella James Gray reveals her sex...
1803 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...
1822 (MDCCCXXII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ...
Champagne Krug, a famous champagne manufacturer established in 1843, by Johann-Joseph Krug * 1800 in Mainz on the Rhine, only makes prestige cuvee. ...
Early History
Founder Jacques Joseph Bollinger married Charlotte de Villermont, and had a daughter, Marie, who had two sons Joseh and Georges. These sons took over the champagne house in 1885 and began expanding the family estate by purchasing vineyards in nearby villages. The sons also developed the image of the House, such as when Bollinger became the official supplier to the British court, receiving a Royal Warrant in 1884 from Queen Victoria. Royal Warrant awarded by Elizabeth II to Jenners, a department store in Edinburgh In the United Kingdom, a Royal Warrant of Appointment is a grant made by senior members of the British Royal Family to companies or tradespeople who supply goods and services to individuals in the family. ...
In 1918 Jacques Bollinger, the son of Georges, took over the House. Jacques married Elizabeth Law de Lauriston Bourbers, known as “Lilly.” Jacques further expanded the facilities of the House, built new cellars, purchased the Tauxieres vineyards, and acquired a champagne House on boulevard du marechal de Lattire de Tassigny – where Bollinger’s officers are presently located.
When Jacques Bollinger died in 1941, Lilly Bollinger took over. Lilly traveled the world to promote the champagne House brand. Lilly was well-publicized in the Champagne religion, leaving several noteworthy quotes.
“I drink it when I’m happy and when I’m sad. Sometimes I drink it when I’m alone. When I have company I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I’m not hungry and drink it when I am. Otherwise, I never touch it – unless I’m thirsty.” The House expanded with the purchase of additional vineyards. Bollinger was managed by Lilly until 1971, when her nephews Claude d’Hautefeuille and Christian Bizot succeeded her reign.
Bollinger was modernized under the direction of Claude d’Hautefeuille. Bollinger also acquired additional vineyards and developed internationally as a brand. Following Claude, fellow nephew of Lilly, Christian Bizot took over the Bollinger champagne house. In addition to expanding the world distribution of Bollinger, Bizot developed a Charter of Ethics and Quality in 1992. Most recently, in 1994 Ghislain de Mongolfier, a great-grandson of the founder has managed the House. Mongolfier has served as president of the Association Viticole Chamenoise since 2004, after leading the Commission of Champagne for 10 years.
Popular culture references
 James Bond has pledged his loyalty to Bollinger for more than four decades. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1050x1039, 210 KB) Summary Official actors who have played James Bond. ...
Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1050x1039, 210 KB) Summary Official actors who have played James Bond. ...
The James Bond 007 gun logo James Bond 007 is a fictional British agent[1], created in 1952 by writer Ian Fleming, featured in several novels and short stories. ...
Absolutely Fabulous was a British sitcom written by and starring Jennifer Saunders, and co-starring Joanna Lumley and Julia Sawalha. ...
Jennifer Saunders Jennifer Jane Saunders (born July 6, 1958 in Sleaford, Lincolnshire) is an English comedian, actress, and comedy writer. ...
Joanna Lumley and David McCallum as Sapphire & Steel. ...
A bottle of Stolichnaya. ...
The James Bond 007 gun logo James Bond 007 is a fictional British agent[1], created in 1952 by writer Ian Fleming, featured in several novels and short stories. ...
Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (May 28, 1908 – August 12, 1964) was an English author and journalist, best remembered for writing the James Bond series of novels as well as the childrens story, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. ...
Evelyn Waugh, as photographed in 1940 by Carl Van Vechten Arthur Evelyn St. ...
Decline and Fall is a novel by the English author Evelyn Waugh. ...
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