Bollinger La Côte aux Enfants 2019
Deep, brilliant garnet colour. The nose shows wonderful intensity: bigarreau cherry and blackberry, then liquorice and sweet spices, with a touch of vanilla from the small oak barrels. On the palate, violet and bergamot illuminate the ripe black fruit, before pepper, truffle and forest-floor notes…
THE CUVÉES OF MAISON BOLLINGERThe expert verdict
The structure of this champagne
TASTING NOTES
Deep, brilliant garnet colour. The nose shows wonderful intensity: bigarreau cherry and blackberry, then liquorice and sweet spices, with a touch of vanilla from the small oak barrels. On the palate, violet and bergamot illuminate the ripe black fruit, before pepper, truffle and forest-floor notes emerge. The wine is full-bodied, with silky tannins and a finely etched texture, and a lovely tension carries it far on the finish. We recommend serving it at 16°C, as the house suggests, decanted or in a large Burgundy glass. This is an exceptional wine for cellaring: you may enjoy it today, or let it age for many years in your cellar.
The composition
Terroirs
La Côte aux Enfants is a lieu-dit in Aÿ, a steep hillside at the edge of the village. The single, unbroken plot covers four hectares and belongs entirely to Bollinger: in the early twentieth century, Jacques Bollinger reassembled it by buying back the land from more than fifty owners. This 2019 is a pure pinot noir, vinified in the Burgundian style: a third of the grapes ferment as whole clusters, following a slow, gradual cold maceration, and the wine is then aged for eight months in small oak barrels. It carries the Coteaux Champenois appellation, reserved for the still wines of Champagne, along with the Aÿ rouge designation; it has an alcohol content of 12.5% vol. The house produces it only in limited quantities, and only in the greatest vintages.
About this house
Founded in Aÿ in 1829, Bollinger is one of the last great Champagne houses to remain family-owned and independent. Its style is rooted in pinot noir and barrel ageing, and in a vineyard it owns largely around Aÿ, at the heart of the Grande Vallée de la Marne.
La Côte aux Enfants is one of its most precious plots. For decades, its pinot noir was used first to make a still red wine, reserved for the greatest years; it was only with the 2012 vintage that the house produced a champagne from it for the first time. The Coteaux Champenois nevertheless remains the most direct expression of this hillside: a rare, great red wine of Champagne, which Bollinger reserves for connoisseurs.
The perfect pairing
Aperitif
A red wine with silky tannins and a peppery finish, paired with cured ham and aged Comté: the black fruit answers the saltiness, and the forest-floor notes complement the cheese.
Starter
The wine's truffle and forest-floor notes find their echo in the mushrooms, while its tension lightens the pasta.
Main course
A full-bodied pinot noir, served at 16°C, pairs well with pink red meat: the porcini mushrooms extend the truffle notes, and the pepper lifts the sauce.
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