2012 Bollinger Champagne La Côte aux Enfants

‘Between 1926 and 1934, Jacques Bollinger bought up all the land in La Côte aux Enfants from a large number of growers in Aÿ because he understood the value of making a monopoly vineyard out of this diamond in the rough. In total, the area is 4 hectares with a sun-drenched side of 2 hectares which is extremely well suited for red wine production, as well as a lesser-known cooler back side in the north-west towards Dizy with an extremely clean chalk only covered by a decimetre thick layer of soil. Since 1934, Bollinger has made the most sought-after red wine in the entire region from here. From the beginning only for private use and since the 80’s in commercial form. Since the first time I tasted the red wine, I have wished that Bollinger would make a Blanc de Noir from here. In 2012, my wish was apparently granted in silence. Then and there the red wine turned into a golden champagne that now 10 years later meets my senses during a zoom meeting with today’s winemaker Denis Bunner and the gentleman Guy de Rivoire a few months before the launch. In this amazingly rare creation that will be roughly 10% below Vieilles Vignes Françaises in terms of price, the grapes come only from the cooler northwest side planted with vines from Burgundy. Selection Massale of course and with an extremely low harvest that the premiere vintage only produced 1000 bottles for all the world’s champagne collectors to fight over. After the harvest, the wine is stored for an optimal time in the house’s main well-aged oak barrels and then rests for 10 years in the cellar with natural cork for maximum autolytic body building in the same spirit as the vintage wine and VVF. So, in a way, a Blanc de Noirs d´Aÿ made in a Burgundy fashion a´la Richebourg or Romanée-Conti. Altogether, all these details result in a truly fantastic deep golden wine that balances in an almost otherworldly way between an enormously intense concentration and a rarely seen mineral-tinged freshness. The chalk note from the unique growing place sounds pure like a Stradivarius playing solo, and the bass notes from fully ripe Pinot Noir rumble together with the bombastic weight of the oak barrel like the basic chords of Mahler’s second symphony. Already after a few seconds of encountering the wine’s wonderful bouquet, I could state that 2012 Bollinger La Côte aux Enfants is in many ways the very essence of “old style Bollinger”. Certainly somewhat lighter and less oily concentrated than VVF and not quite as multi-faceted as R.D. or La Grande Année. Yet this wine personifies the soul and heart of Bollinger better than any other wine. If you have been in Bollinger’s cellar and in the beautiful hall where all the oak barrels are lined up, you will probably never forget the unique aroma you find there.

The single parcel of La Côte Aux Enfants has long been the source for Bollinger’s still red wine for both their Rosé and their Coteaux Champenois bottlings. The 2012 Champagne Blanc de Noirs La Côte Aux Enfants Brut is their first release, with approximately 1000 bottles produced, only 70 of which will come into the United States. One hundred percent Pinot Noir, it is rich with incense, bread dough, fully ripe red fruits, and kirsch. The palate is broad and mouth-filling with consistency from the aromatics and has a long, floral finish with blackcurrant, lavender, toast, and a driving mineral texture. Though it is ripe and full, it maintains freshness and energy without feeling bruised and has refreshing salinity. It leaves a wonderful first impression, but this could certainly prove challenging to revisit given its miniscule quantities.

The 2012 Blanc de Noirs La Côte aux Enfants is a new Champagne from Bollinger made from a southwest-facing, 2-hectare parcel in Aÿ that was redeveloped 25 years ago adjacent to the block that has informed the house’s Coteaux Champenois since 1934. Even in 2012 – a radiant year – the Côte aux Enfants is intensely bright and tightly wound, a reflection of very thin soils with just 30 centimeters of topsoil above pure chalk. That reticence is probably a very good sign for its long-term aging prospects. Time brings out hints of apricot, peach, red plum, kirsch, wild flowers, chalk, spice and white pepper, but the 2012 only starts to blossom with a ton of air. The 2012 was disgorged in March 2022. Dosage is 8 grams per liter, on the higher side these days, but not at all noticeable. Stylistically, the Côte aux Enfants is not as exotic as the VVF, nor as steely as the new series of multi-vintage PN Blanc de Noirs Bollinger began releasing with the 2015 vintage. I can’t wait to see how it ages, but I also wouldn’t dream of touching a bottle any time soon, except for academic purposes.

A wine which exudes elegant notes of dried flowers, Mirabelle plum, pastry and hazelnuts on the nose. It has medium density on the palate, but there is excellent vinosity as well as a chiselled precision. Endowed as it is with a compelling mouthfeel brimming with tactile tension and mouthwatering salinity.