{"id":3621,"date":"2026-03-27T06:05:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T06:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/?p=3621"},"modified":"2026-03-27T06:05:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T06:05:00","slug":"bollingers-cult-cuvees-may-soon-disappear-heres-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/?p=3621","title":{"rendered":"Bollinger\u2019s Cult Cuv\u00e9es May Soon Disappear \u2013 Here\u2019s Why"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stock up on La C\u00f4te aux Enfants and Vielles Vignes Fran\u00e7aise while you can, says Alice Lascelles.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"bollinge<\/div>\n

Not every prestige champagne is quite as limited edition as you might think \u2013\u00a0Dom Perignon, for example, doesn\u2019t release figures but is believed to produce up to five million bottles a year (a figure that\u2019s entirely feasible given its owner Mo\u00ebt Hennessy\u2019s status as Champagne\u2019s largest vineyard holder.)<\/p>\n

If you want a real<\/em> unicorn from a big name, then try Champagne Bollinger, which quietly makes a trio of collectable cuv\u00e9es from some of its rarest vineyards. \u00a0<\/p>\n

The first two wines \u2013\u00a0a champagne and a still red \u2013 come from La C\u00f4te aux Enfants, a single 10-acre plot just a few minutes drive from Bollinger\u2019s home in A\u00ff.<\/p>\n

\"Bollinger
\u00a9Bollinger<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The first thing to note about this vineyard is it\u2019s rather steep; about 45 degrees. When I climbed it on a rather drizzly day last month, my companions were sliding all over the place (I had chosen stoutness over style when it came to footwear, thankfully). The vineyard used to be steeper \u2013 and it\u2019s thought that \u2018Enfants\u2019 (\u2018children\u2019) is in fact a corruption of \u2018Enfers\u2019, or Hell, a nickname given by pickers who had to haul runoff soil up its treacherous chalky slopes.<\/p>\n

See also: Upscale Parties Call for These Champagne Cocktail Recipes<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Today, the vineyard\u2019s primary job is to provide the still red wine for Bollinger\u2019s ros\u00e9 champagnes. (Indeed, A\u00ff used to be famous for its still reds, which were a particular favorite of King Henry IV). But Bollinger also releases small amounts as a standalone still wine, or Coteaux Champenois, made from fruit grown on the warmer, south-facing slope. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\"bollinger
\u00a9Bollinger<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With the vineyard\u2019s wet mud drying on my boots, I tasted Bollinger\u2019s Coteaux Champenois 2019<\/a>. Made with whole cluster fruit, in the Burgundy style, it is a deep dark, red; very expressive on the nose with floral blackberry and juicy black cherry aromas. On the palate, it is generous, silky, and concentrated, with a hint of vanilla tobacco. Only produced in the best years, it retails for around \u00a3100 (approx. $133).<\/p>\n

Bollinger La Grande Ann\u00e9e Ros\u00e9 2018, which will be released in autumn, also has five percent Cote aux Enfants red wine in the mix, resulting in a gorgeously creamy, textural ros\u00e9 with piquant notes of rhubarb and bittersweet orange. A serious ros\u00e9 from a fabulous vintage that is destined to age well.<\/p>\n

Fruit from La C\u00f4te aux Enfants\u2019 cooler northern slopes is also bottled, occasionally, as a single-vineyard blanc de noirs<\/em> champagne of the same name. Less than 5,000 bottles of this are produced and retail for around \u00a31,000 (approx. $1,338).<\/p>\n

\"bollinger
\u00a9Bollinger<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The 2013 La C\u00f4te aux Enfants is quite racy. I preferred the 2014 which is more vinous and richer, with a sweet-and-savoury blend of leesy, almost cheesy creaminess and crystallized tropical fruits.<\/p>\n

Not rarified enough for you? Then there\u2019s also Bollinger Vielles Vignes Fran\u00e7aises, a cuv\u00e9e made from two historic Bollinger plots totalling 31 \u2018ares\u2019 or just three-quarters of an acre.<\/p>\n

See also: Sakura Season Is Brief \u2013 These Are the Drinks to Try While It Lasts<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\"vineyard
\u00a9Bollinger<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

These plots are prized because they contain some of the last surviving un-grafted vines in Champagne (ever since French vineyards were devastated by phylloxera in the late 19th<\/sup> century, Champagne vines have always been grafted). It\u2019s thought that the walls around the vineyards help to give them some protection.<\/p>\n

A typical vintage amounts to 2,000 bottles \u2013 but that figure\u2019s falling all the time, says Bollinger\u2019s managing director Charles-Armand de Belenet. \u201cWith climate change. winter is less cold, so the phylloxera is growing. There\u2019s also less water, so when it\u2019s sunny there\u2019s a heatwave in the clos. Yield is collapsing year on year. It\u2019s emotional every time we taste this wine as we don\u2019t know if we will taste it in a few years.\u201d<\/p>\n

A while back, I had the opportunity to taste the Bollinger Vielles Vignes Fran\u00e7aises 2012<\/a> \u2013\u00a0it was aromatic, nutty, and spicy. The old vines also gave it great concentration; lovely notes of fruit leather, hazelnut, and membrillo. \u00a31360 (approx. $1,820) from champagne specialists The Finest Bubble.<\/a> Drink now<\/em>. Don\u2019t wait.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stock up on La C\u00f4te aux Enfants and Vielles Vignes Fran\u00e7aise while you can, says Alice Lascelles.\u00a0 Not every prestige champagne is quite as limited edition as you might think \u2013\u00a0Dom Perignon, for example, doesn\u2019t release figures but is believed to produce up to five million bottles a year (a figure that\u2019s entirely feasible given […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3622,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","beyondwords_generate_audio":"","beyondwords_project_id":"","beyondwords_content_id":"","beyondwords_preview_token":"","beyondwords_player_content":"","beyondwords_player_style":"","beyondwords_language_id":"","beyondwords_title_voice_id":"","beyondwords_body_voice_id":"","beyondwords_summary_voice_id":"","beyondwords_error_message":"","beyondwords_disabled":"","beyondwords_delete_content":"","beyondwords_podcast_id":"","beyondwords_hash":"","publish_post_to_speechkit":"","speechkit_hash":"","speechkit_generate_audio":"","speechkit_project_id":"","speechkit_podcast_id":"","speechkit_error_message":"","speechkit_disabled":"","speechkit_access_key":"","speechkit_error":"","speechkit_info":"","speechkit_response":"","speechkit_retries":"","speechkit_status":"","speechkit_updated_at":"","_speechkit_link":"","_speechkit_text":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3621"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3621\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}