98

Champagne Bollinger Vieilles Vignes Françaises 2012 (98 WA)

“Disgorged in March 2023 with six grams per liter dosage, Bollinger’s 2012 Blanc de Noirs Vieilles Vignes Françaises is a powerful, multidimensional Champagne that pushes the house’s vinous, Pinot Noir-driven style to the furthest. Offering up rich aromas of orange rind, mandarin oil, grilled peaches, dried fruits and pear mingled with notions of nutmeg, beeswax, smoke and buttered toast, it’s full-bodied, broad and layered, with a deep, enveloping core endowed with extraordinary texture and concentration, its broad attack and mid-palate segueing into a long, resonant finish. If the 2013 vintage tended to tame some of the Vieilles Vignes Françaises’s exuberance, the 2012 vintage leaves this cuvée untrammeled.”-W.K 8/23

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    Champagne Bollinger Vieilles Vignes Françaises 2012

    Champagne, France

    Vieilles Vignes Françaises is one of Champagne’s most mythical cuvees, produced from miraculously preserved and ungrafted 100% Pinot Noir vines. Phylloxera destroyed the vines of Champagne in the early 20th century, but amazingly enough two of Bollinger’s classified Grands crus plots, Chaudes Terres and Clos St. Jacques, survived and are still grown the traditional way. Madame Lily Bollinger first had this wine produced in 1969 as an anniversary cuvee to commemorate her 70th birthday. Following the wine’s launch in 1974, Vieilles Vignes Françaises promptly became a collectible and a symbol of a bygone era. Over the decades, its uniqueness and scarcity have made it one of the most sought-after and expensive Champagnes.

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    Champagne Bollinger

    Champagne, France

    Bollinger is one of the rare Grande Marques that’s still family owned. Known for its rich, elegant and polished style of Champagne, their outstanding wines are the result of rigorous attention to detail and incredibly labor-intensive practices that few houses are willing to undertake. Underscoring its excellence, Bollinger has remained British secret agent James Bond's Champagne of choice since 1973.