Champagne Bollinger owns an impressive 178 hectares of vineyards, of which 85% are in Grand Cru and Premier Cru villages. Their land is spread over seven main villages: Aÿ, Avenay, Louvois, Tauxières and Verzenay planted with Pinot Noir; Cuis with Chardonnay; and Champvoisy with Meunier. Bollinger are one of the few Houses to produce the majority of their own grapes for their blends. Pinot Noir represents 60% of the House's vineyards and defines the House style: complex and powerful with remarkable structure. In 2012 Champagne Bollinger was certified High Environment Value (HEV) this certification rewards a number of environmental procedures implemented at the Maison.

It’s thanks to the ethical farming practices that Bollinger employs in the vineyard – minimal agricultural inputs, controlled yields, precise management of the grape’s maturity throughout the course of harvesting – that the Champagne House constantly benefits from undeniably high-quality grapes, no matter how difficult certain years can be. Today, B13 is a new example of this with 90% of the grapes coming from the Bollinger Estate. This blend is all from the 2013 harvest, the last summer where it was a traditional late harvest in October, something that used to be common but with global warming harvest are now all too often in late August and early September. The combination of a cool summer combined with vineyards with cooler north and north east facing aspects has created a champagne with elegance and wonderfully rich yet restrained fruit.

Weather: 2013 was characterised by a particularly late growing cycle. The never-ending winter was followed by a very cool, late spring. we had to wait until the start of July for flowering to begin – something we hadn’t seen in Champagne for quite some time! Fortunately, summer was glorious with plenty of sunshine, record temperatures and very low rainfall, ideal for the ripening of the Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays. the temperatures were cool for the October harvest and the resulting wines are elegant and fresh – the signs of a “classic” vintage.

Technical Information:
Vineyards: 92% Grand Cru: 52% Verzenay, 25% Ay, 15% Louvois | 8% Premier Cru: 1% Mareuil-sur-Ay & 7% Avenay
Grape Varieties: 100% Pinot Noir all from 2013
Lees Ageing: 7 years
Disgorged: April 2021
Dosage: 6 g/l
Drink: Now to 2030

No magnums were made of Bollinger B13 #howcareless
The gift box is 100% recyclable, made of mostly recycled materials

Tasting Note: Opening with notes of ripe fruits, fruit jellies and leading to aromas of mirabelle plum and vine peach. On the palate, intense fruit with flavours of pear and fresh almonds and apple tart with candied lemon notes. Velvety persistence with a saline hint on the finish.