HISTORY
1829 : an adventurous aristocrat and two experts in wine
The story began with Athanase de Villermont, the youngest son of a noble family with a brilliant destiny. A great soldier who shone during the American War of Independence, he inherited an extensive estate from his family in the Aÿ area. He immediately foresaw the extraordinary potential of the wines of Champagne, but as an aristocrat he was forbidden to become involved in trade.He then met Joseph Bollinger, a widely travelled German who had left his country of birth to learn about the Champagne wine trade, and Paul Renaudin, a local man who was fascinated by the world of wine. The firm of Renaudin-Bollinger & Cie was founded on 6th February 1829. Joseph took care of sales and Paul of the cellar. Athanase had founded a champagne House that was to endure through the centuries.
With succession came a time of challenges
Joseph Bollinger married Louise-Charlotte, daughter of Athanase, in 1837. In time their sons, Joseph and then Georges, took over the business. From the phylloxera crisis to the turmoil of the Great War, they were to face some of the House’s greatest challenges. Under the guidance of the two brothers, Bollinger nonetheless gained great renown and extended its vineyards considerably. In 1920 Jacques Bollinger, son of Georges, found himself at the helm of the House: a weighty burden for a 24-year old. He faced the challenge with courage, aided by his cousins Pierre and then Yves Moret de Rocheprise; for the strength of Bollinger also lies in its powerful family ties. Sophisticated, cultivated and a fluent English-speaker, Jacques increased Bollinger's prominence across the Channel. He guided the House with great wisdom through the difficult years of recession and the Second World War, and as Mayor of Aÿ he was committed to protecting his village.
Madame Bollinger
When Elisabeth Bollinger (born Law de Lauriston-Boubers) married Jacques in 1923, she was also to become passionately involved with the House’s destiny. She was only 42 when she lost her husband at the height of the war. Without hesitation and with great dignity she stepped in to take up the torch. "Madame Jacques”, as she was known within the House, threw herself heart and soul into her new role. During her many visits abroad her natural grace and charm worked wonders.
Cheerful and witty, Madame Bollinger was nonetheless a formidable strategist. A dauntless businesswoman, she was also highly perfectionist and would tolerate nothing short of excellence. She was always ready to innovate, and was the driving force behind the highly original Bollinger R.D. cuvée. The familiar image of her cycling through the vineyards is imprinted in everyone's memories.
Preparing for the future
With her customary common sense, Madame Bollinger gathered around her those family members who were most able to follow in her footsteps. Firstly she taught Claude d’Hautefeuille, her niece’s husband, the ins and outs of the House. In 1950 he became a Director and launched an ambitious modernisation programme whilst respecting Bollinger’s quality requirements. Madame Bollinger appointed him Chairman in 1971 but remained closely involved until her death six years later.
Madame Bollinger’s nephew, Christian Bizot, took over from Claude in 1978. A great traveller, like his Aunt Lily before him he made a point of meeting with sommeliers, restaurant owners and wine merchants to promote the House’s wines. A great Chairman, he was well known for his outspokenness and informality.
Moving forward in the spirit of tradition
In 1994 it was none other than the great-great-grandson of founder Joseph Bollinger who was to become head of the House. After starting his career in Chili, Ghislain de Montgolfier continued to develop the House with the pursuit of excellence as a guiding light. He continues to maintain a policy of voluntarily limiting amounts produced to increase quality, while remaining true to the Bollinger spirit.
A tireless worker, Ghislain has a great sense of humour and combines scientific rigour with enthusiasm for success.
In 2007 his technical expertise led him to be elected as head of the Board of the Union des Maisons de Champagne and co-chairman of the Comité Champagne.
The House today and tomorrow
In 2008, a new Chairman was appointed, one who is not a member of the family. This was Jérôme Philipon, a Champagne native who has built an impressive career with major industrial groups. It was the first time in the history of the House that its future was entrusted to someone outside the family.With the Bollinger family’s support, Jérôme Philipon continued to develop Champagne Bollinger while guaranteeing that its principles and values are upheld.In 2017, when Jérôme Philipon was appointed Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the family holding, Charles-Armand de Belenet became General Manager of Champagne Bollinger. With him, Bollinger continues to preserve its traditional craftsmanship while incorporating the best of innovative technologies, to pursue a future of commercial and quality development for the brand.
VINEYARD
Bollinger’s exceptional vineyard
The House’s 178 hectares are planted with 85% of Grand Cru and Premier Cru vines, spread over seven main vineyards: Aÿ, Avenay, Tauxières, Louvois et Verzenay are planted with Pinot Noir, Cuis with Chardonnay and Champvoisy with Pinot Meunier. Bollinger is one of a very few champagne Houses to produce the majority of their own grapes for their blends. Pinot Noir represents 60% of the House’s vineyard, corresponding to the exact proportion of this demanding grape variety in the Special Cuvée blend. Complex and powerful, it provides Bollinger wines with their remarkable structure.
Another of Bollinger’s distinctive features are two plots, the Clos Saint-Jacques and Chaudes Terres, which have never succumbed to phylloxera, the disease which ravaged almost all of the champagne wine-growing area in the early 20th century. These ungrafted vines are entirely tended by hand and reproduced using a form of layering called provignage, thereby providing the means to preserve this extraordinary heritage from which the very exclusive Vieilles Vignes Françaises cuvée is produced.
Preserving and improving the vineyard
The Bollinger vines are an integral part of the geography of the Champagne region, their straight rows, which count for some of the most tightly planted in the world, creating a highly recognisable landscape. To preserve this harmony, the House constantly improves its vineyard by replacing iron stakes by pine posts, planting flowers and installing pristine boundary markers.
Bollinger also supports sustainable winegrowing by grassing over the ground, using biological pest control, significantly reducing the use of herbicides and recycling pruning waste. Planting hedges and orchards helps to preserve biodiversity, while the 4 hectares of the Côte aux Enfants vineyard are managed organically. Bollinger is the first champagne House to obtain High Environmental Value certification, marking the strength of its commitment to protecting the vineyard.
Tasting note:
A golden colour, distinctive of black grape varieties ; very fine bubbles. A beautiful aromatic complexity ; ripe fruit and spicy aromas ; hints of roasted apples, apple compote and peaches. A subtle combination of structure, length and vivacity ; bubbles like velvet ; pear, brioche and spicy aromas, notes of fresh walnut.
🏅 James Suckling 93 pts：
Lovely density and a fine-bubble texture. Dried apple and apricot with hints of dried flowers. Medium to full body. with medium-rich fruit. Spice, zest and ginger character. Usually 10% in barrel. 60% pinot noir, 25% chardonnay and 15% pinot meunier. About 40% reserve wine kept in magnums. Always really well done. Drink now.
🏅 Wine Advocate 92 pts：
Like its rosé counterpart, the latest release of Bollinger's NV Brut Special Cuvée is showing especially well, bursting from the glass with aromas of honeyed apples, crisp stone fruit, buttery pastry, ripe lemons and fresh walnuts. Medium to full-bodied, fleshy and vinous, with a deep core of beautifully ripe fruit, racy acids and a pillowy mousse, it's a charming, characterful wine that proves that Special Cuvée is firmly back where it belongs.
🏅 Vinous 91 pts：
(6O0% piot nor, 25% chardonnay and )5% pinot meunier L12420) Bright yelw.A complex bouquet evokespooched pear, Meyer lemon,chlky minerols and foasty lees Flety pear onw honey flvos show very good depth picking up rereshing ciru pth and minerol nuances with oiaRich but energerc,with strong linishig cut and lingering spiciness.
