98 point

I know, of course, that I will be in for a grand experience every time I encounter a new vintage of ungrafted Bollinger Vieilles Vignes Françaises from the two small vineyards of Chaudes Terres and Clos St Jacques, outside Bollinger’s legendary house in Aÿ. Yet I was surprised that the wine was so powerful from such a light vintage as 2016. In the glass next to me was the sister wine 2015 Bollinger La Côte aux Enfants which in 2014 was almost as powerful as the VVF when Björnstierne and I tasted them at Old Man Storr in Scotland. Therefore, it was very surprising that the warm year of 2015 resulted in the lightest and most sublimely fine-tuned La Côte aux Enfants to date and that the 2016 VVF rumbled forward with a completely different muscularity and concentration. Denis Bunner asked me which vintage of VVF this colossal 2016 was most similar to when newly launched. After a few minutes of searching in my memory bank, I came to the conclusion that the 1985 VVF behaved in a very similar way. What I remember about that wine was that it was as flamboyant and honey-saturated d’Yquem-like as the 2016, but that it quickly went into an unusually long hibernation and closed like a clam and picked up speed somewhere around the 20-year mark. We’ll see if this wine follows the same pattern and let’s hope that the meager 1,736 bottles are not drunk during the sleeping beauty’s sleep. Now newly launched, the wine is fantastic with a deep sparkling golden color. In the aroma, I am met by a heavy orchestra with brass and drums. Honeysuckle, honey, milk chocolate, oak, caramel, nougat, blackberry, ripe yellow peach, apricot and Moroccan leather constitute the most important components of the aromatic symphony. The incredibly concentrated taste plays on exactly the same theme, but has also been gifted with a new element of fig, sweet lemon pie and exotic fruits that I did not find in the fragrance package. In the aftertaste, the nougat note transitions to pure hazelnut from Piedmont. Another giant is born to enrich the ultimate wine world elite. The gratitude I feel is boundless and becomes almost even greater when you think that the phylloxera could attack the two small plots of land in Aÿ at any time.

98 point

The recently released 2016 Blanc de Noirs Vieilles Vignes Françaises—harvested on September 18th at a relatively modest 10.2% potential alcohol—has turned out beautifully. It unites the richness of Pinot Noir and the concentration of old vines with the freshness imparted by the growing season and recent disgorgement. This balance serves to temper some of the exuberance that VVF can display in warmer vintages. Disgorged in February 2025 with a dosage of four grams per liter, the wine unfurls from the glass with a deep bouquet of orange zest, crisp pear and peach, mingling with notes of freshly baked bread, nuts and spices. On the palate, it is medium- to full-bodied, expansive and multidimensional, with tangy acidity and a pillowy mousse. Generous and intense yet impeccably harmonious, it culminates in a long, resonant finish. Those fortunate enough to secure one or two of the mere 1,000 bottles produced will likely face a dilemma: when to open it. Promising a superb drinking experience, it is likely to show at its full generosity between 17 and 25 years after the vintage. As is customary these days, Vieilles Vignes Françaises is sourced from two walled parcels of ungrafted Pinot Noir vines—Clos Saint-Jacques and Clos Chaudes-Terres—located adjacent to the Bollinger estate. These vineyards were replanted in the 1970s using massal selections from Aÿ and should not be mistaken for survivors of the pre-phylloxera era. While the soils here are not sandy—an attribute that enabled vine survival in certain other Champagne sites—it is most likely the enclosing walls that have thus far shielded these vines from phylloxera infestation.

97 point

Beautifully fragrant with clove, violet and incense aromatics, this rich blanc de noirs is vinous in style. The fine, chalky mousse is almost lightly tannic in texture, and with the firm spine of acidity it's a deftly integrated frame enmeshed with flavors of macerated cherry and black currant, toasted hazelnut, pain d’épices and mandarin orange peel. Long and plush through the long, long, mineral- and spice-laced finish. Disgorged February 2025.