Bollinger

Bollinger is a French Champagne house, a producer of luxury sparkling wines from the Champagne region. They produce several labels of Champagne under the Bollinger name, including the vintage Vieilles Vignes Françaises, Grande Année and R.D. as well as the non-vintage Special Cuvée. Founded in 1829 in Aÿ by Hennequin de Villermont, Paul Renaudin and Jacques Bollinger, the house continues to be run by members of the Bollinger family. In Britain, Bollinger Champagnes are affectionately known as "Bolly".

History

Bollinger 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 practised 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 Jacob Joseph Placidus Bollinger (or Jacques Joseph Placide Bollinger as he called himself in France) was born in Ellwangen, in the Kingdom of Württemberg. In 1822, he moved to the Champagne region and began work at the Champagne house of Muller Ruinart, which no longer exists. Many other German nationals came to settle in the Champagne region, including Johann-Josef Krug and the Heidsiecks, who founded a house that would become Charles Heidsieck, Piper Heidsieck, Heidsieck & Co Monopole, Veuve Clicquot

Expansion under Lily Bollinger

In 1918 Jacques Bollinger, the son of Georges, took over the company. Jacques married Élisabeth Law de Lauriston Boubers, known as "Lily". Jacques further expanded the facilities by building new cellars, purchasing the Tauxières vineyards, and acquiring the assets of another Champagne house on Boulevard du Maréchal de Lattre de Tassigny, where Bollinger's offices are presently located.

When Jacques Bollinger died in 1941, Lily Bollinger took over. Lily expanded production through the purchase of more vineyards, but is better known for traveling the world to promote the brand. Lily was well-publicized in the Champagne region, leaving several noteworthy quotes.

"I drink [wine] 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.[1]"

Lily managed Bollinger until 1971, when her nephews Claude d'Hautefeuille and Christian Bizot succeeded her.

Modern day

Bollinger was modernized under the direction of Claude d'Hautefeuille, who acquired additional vineyards and developed the brand internationally. Following Claude, his cousin Christian Bizot took over the Bollinger house. In addition to expanding the world distribution of Bollinger, Bizot developed a Charter of Ethics and Quality in 1992. Since 1994, Ghislain de Mongolfier has managed Bollinger. A great-grandson of the founder, Mongolfier has also served as president of the Association Viticole Champenoise since 2004, after leading the Commission of Champagne for 10 years.

In April 2021, Bollinger finalized a purchase of the Willamette Valley's Ponzi Family Winery in Oregon wine country, on the west coast of the United States. The region has been known to grow some of the best Pinot noir wine grapes in the world, and this purchase marks another esteemed French producer becoming more involved in American West Coast wine production.[2]

Wines

Bollinger is one of the few remaining independent Champagne houses. Family-managed since 1889, Bollinger maintains more than 150 hectares of vineyards. It currently produces the following sparkling wines:

Special Cuvée (non-vintage): The Bollinger house style. This Champagne blend uses grapes from a given year, with the addition of reserve wines. Champagne author Tom Stevenson describes the house style as "classic, Pinot-dominated Champagnes of great potential longevity and complexity" which "tends to go toasty."[6] The blend includes up to 10% reserve wines, which may be up to fifteen years old. Special Cuvée are aged in the lees for at least five years before release. (Composition: 60% Pinot noir, 25% Chardonnay, 15% Pinot Meunier.)

Grande Année (vintage): this Champagne is also available as a rosé. The wine spends five years on its lees and is aged in bottle under cork, instead of crown seal. (Composition: 65% Pinot noir, 35% Chardonnay.)

R.D. (vintage): it spends at least eight years on its lees, and like the Grand Année, is aged under cork, not crown seal. R.D. is a registered trademark of Bollinger which stands for récemment dégorgé ("recently disgorged"). In the mid-1990s, Bollinger sold Année Rare, which was an R.D. that had undergone longer aging on the lees.

Vieille Vignes Françaises (vintage): a blanc de noirs is made in small quantity with wine from two small plots of ungrafted rootstock planted in low density. The English wine writer Cyril Ray suggested the idea of using the ungrafted vines to produce a separate wine to Lily Bollinger in the 1960s.[7] The first vintage was 1969. Vieille Vignes refers to how the vines are trained rather than the age of the rootstock. The low-density vineyards, Clos St-Jacques in Aÿ and Chaudes Terres in Aÿ, are severely pruned, and produce 35% less juice per vine, creating a "super rich wine."[8] In 2005, phylloxera destroyed the third vineyard used for this wine, Croix Rouge in Bouzy.[9]

Coteaux Champenois La Côte aux Enfants (vintage): This still red wine is produced from grapes grown on the south-facing slope of the 100% echelle vineyard, the Côte aux Enfants in Aÿ.[10]

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.

winery name	Bollinger
wine region	Ay, Marne
appellation	Champagne
cases per year	100,000
signature wine	Vieilles Vignes Françaises and R.D. (prestige) Grande Année and Grande Année Rosé (vintage) Special Cuvée (non-vintage)
acres cultivated	160 ha
varietal1	Pinot noir
varietal2	Chardonnay
varietal3	Pinot Meunier

History

Expansion under Lily Bollinger

Modern day

Marketing

Wines

Reserve wines

Production

Grape supply

Corporate structure

See also

External links

References