2016 Bollinger Champagne B16

Another limited-edition vintage release by Bollinger, this 2016 wine is super supple and blooming already upon release. Atypically for Bollinger, Bouzy from the south side of the Montagne de Reims is the dominant village with a 25% share. Of the 30% of Chardonnay complementing the Pinot Noir, Trépail leads the blend, lending exotic spiciness and sweet fruitiness to the appealing whole. Fermentation in oak gives a spicy signature to the lush, fruity nose of orchard fruit, yellow plum and orange blossom. This wine is on the elegance in its caressing silkiness and salty tang. In a quest of letting the terroir speak, Bollinger is restricting the dosage to 4g/l.

Bollinger's winemaking team chose early on not to make a La Grande Année 2016 and took the opportunity to experiment a bit with a different geographical focus than any previous cuvée. They focused almost exclusively on making a terroir-driven wine from the Montagne de Reims with Bouzy instead of Aÿ as the starting point. Although there are 13 villages involved, 5 of them emphatically dominate. Aÿ, for example, which usually dominates Bollinger's vintage champagne, contributes less than 1 percent this time. Bouzy accounts for a full 25% of the composition with Verzy 10%, Verzenay 8%, Tauxières 7% and 14% Chardonnay coming from Trépail. The vinification with the old oak barrels, bottle aging under cork, hand remuage and disgorging by hand is exactly the same as always, but the style is completely different with a completely different terroir expression. Just like the VVF from 2016, Bollinger B from the same vintage has a 4 gram dosage. This is of course a very good wine and it is extremely exciting to see how the vineyards put their own fingerprint on the whole. I am most struck by the difference in structure compared to LGA. Here everything is silky and slim, with Bouzy's soft, slightly gentle form without the depth I usually find in LGA. Even the most characteristic hazelnut aroma is replaced with sweet almond. The apple notes are toned down and the peach notes take over. The honeysuckle is gone and has been replaced by hawthorn and bird cherry. The precision is eminent and the development potential may be higher than I indicated as time will probably erase some of the differences compared to LGA. As usual, time will tell.

Lively and more floral than many a Bollinger champagne – almost transparent and filigree. The opposite of heavy with marked but not excessive acidity at this stage. Much is happening at the house of Bollinger under chef de cave Denis Bunner! B13 Brut preceded it.