
The Friday Bubble – Review of Bollinger La Cote aux Enfants Champagne 2013 with Essi Avellan MW
October 27, 2023
Today on The Friday Bubble with Essi Avellan MW and Nick Baker ; Bollinger La Cote aux Enfants Champagne 2013.
Today on The Friday Bubble with Essi Avellan MW and Nick Baker ; Bollinger La Cote aux Enfants Champagne 2013.
Laurent-Perrier have finally announced their new release of Grand Siècle Iteration 23 in Magnum. This release is a blend of 2006, 2004, 2002.
Nearly two decades ago, Champagne Jacquesson redefined non-vintage champagne. Instead of creating a consistent style year upon year, they now produce the best champagne possible and value each creation for their distinctive personalities – a concept that the wider region is just now starting to wake up to.
During a visit to the house of Bollinger in Aÿ last year, we explored champagnes from some of the region’s hottest ever vintages, dating as far back as 1947. We also held a mini-vertical of Special Cuvée base vintages, tasted a trio of R.D.s and had a look at the new Coteaux Champenois.
Although Chef de Cave Gilles Descôtes described 2017 as “the worst since 1893”, Bollinger continued to innovate. We tasted the results of some exciting trials they are conducting with the rarer grape varieties Arbane, Petit Meslier and Pinot Gris.
It’s not often that we taste Champagne that belongs in a museum. Our visit to Bollinger with Jancis Robinson MW included a tour of the newly renovated cellars and a tasting of Champagne produced during WWI.
In 2009, Champagne Henri Giraud invested in 10 terracotta egg-shaped tanks to assess their effect on the maturation of wine. The house now has more than 50 clay containers and are producing more. Have they gone crazy or are they one step ahead of the field?
The difficult 2016 vintage appears to have been kind to Champagne Bollinger. We tasted the Vins Clairs at the winery in Aÿ last month and the house are optimsitic – even drawing likeness to the magnificent 1988 vintage! We judged for ourselves…