Bollinger PN VZ15: a pure Pinot Noir cuvee

21 Jul 2020

A little brother for the Vieilles Vignes Francaises

You might think it strange that for a Champagne house so dependant on Pinot Noir - everything in the range is at least 60% Pinot Noir, including Special Cuvee - Bollinger does not have a regular blanc de noirs. True, what they do have is the genre-defining, hen's teeth Vieilles Vignes Francaises; a tiny production, vintage blanc de noirs cuvee from a single, historic vineyard. But the house has hitherto lacked any more accessible cuvee to showcase their Pinot. And so, a few years ago, Managing Director Charles Armand de Belenet decreed Bollinger must create 'a little brother for the Vieilles Vignes Francaises'.

Cellarmaster Giles Descotes was only too happy to rise to the challenge. He instigated an internal competition amongst the three full-time winemakers the house employs, to craft the very best 100% Pinot Noir blend they could. And the winning Champagne is released today. It has been catchily christened the PN VZ15, with its origins coded into the name. PN is of course Pinot Noir; VZ is Verzenay, the grand cru where most of the fruit to make this blend comes from; and 15 is the base vintage, rounded out with 20% of magnum-aged reserve wines.

Blanc de noirs Champagnes should be all about the Pinot Noir fruit, and the best, like the PN VZ15, tend to be rich, forward and terribly drinkable. The PN VZ15 has a bouquet gloriously full of apricot, cherry and candied citrus, with a satisfying, rounded mouthfeel, good weight, and a persistent finish which shows just a touch of toast and spice. And the packaging? Modern in the most stylish way, so that arch-innovator of yesteryear Madame Lily Bollinger would surely approve. /NT

Offered subject to confirmation; available imminently