Bollinger launches 2014 VVF and Les Côtes aux Enfants

Bollinger chef de cave Denis Bunner shares his thoughts about the just completed 2024 harvest and introduces two very special 2014 vintage releases. 

In a Pinot Noir themed lunch at Apricity in Mayfair’s Duke Street, Bunner and chef Chantelle Nicholson devised an inspired menu to match the five different Bollinger Blanc de Noirs.

Bunner told the guests that despite the difficult 2024 growing season “with one and half time’s the normal rainfall between April and September and high pressure of mildew”, they ended up with “a light [in volume terms] but high-quality crop. After a hot and humid winter there was lot of grass in the vineyard and growers had to spend a lot of time making sure it was not too high and with the mildew pressure, it was a nightmare for them.

“Since 2016 we have been converting our own vineyards to organic production, it will be certified next year and it was a real fight against the weather, constantly trying to adapt to the difficult conditions. But we had no problems with botrytis and two days before the harvest started on 17 September the weather changed with cool night temperatures below 12 °C and during the first two weeks of the harvest we had sunny weather with no rain and a wind that helped dry the berries.

“This helped us reach a good level of maturity and potential alcohol of 10.6deg for the Pinot Noir with Chardonnay at 10deg and Meunier too. The Pinot Noir was higher and more concentrated because of fewer grapes on the vine and has an exceptional level of acidity not seen since 2014, with a lot of malic acid. It puts me in mind of the 2012 and 2016 harvests but closer to 2012. I feel confident we will make Grande Année and I’m very proud of the vineyard team who had to adapt, particularly in terms of the order of picking, given the unusual ripening order of different plots.

“With the climate changing we will have to adapt more and more in the future. This past year we saw record [average] temperatures in March, April and May.”

The tasting kicked off with the previous release of Bollinger’s relatively new PN series, PN AYC18 served in magnum, the larger format and extra age on the cork since release serving to emphasise the depth, spicy warmth and generosity of this particular wine, especially compared to the new zesty, fresh PNVZ19 that followed.

“This is principally made from Verzenay fruit (plus Pinot from Aÿ, Avenay, Louvois, Mutigny and Tauxières) blended with 25% 2009 vintage reserve magnums from Verzenay,” says Bunner. “It was a very hot year in 2019 and we achieved a record level of potential alcohol at 11deg, while 2009 was a fresher, cooler vintage.”

With an attractive, zesty grapefruit-skin note, Bunner liked its “length and salinity, chalky density and the nice bitterness on the aftertaste”. A great match with a dish of Loch Fyne scallop, baked apple, brown butter and cobnuts.

Single plot Pinot Noir

Bollinger La Côte aux Enfants 2014 followed served with a subtle, deceptively simple dish of pasture raised chicken, mushrooms, jus roti, seasonal greens, designed not to overshadow the wine, though that would have been hard to do. This single plot Pinot Noir was introduced to the range only in 2022 with the 2012 vintage and comes from an elevated parcel in Aÿ with twin aspects. The warmer, south facing slope is made into red wine, while this comes from the north-western facing side which has been producing exceptional quality for many years.

La Côte aux Enfants was made in 2012, ’13 and ’14.

“The 2014 vintage was,” says Bunner, “a question of patience. We decided to wait one more week before picking and therefore were successful in ensuring we had grapes with a good concentration and ripeness. With a 20deg slope, its an exceptional plot where you get faster maturation. This year (2024) we reached 11.1deg for La Côte aux Enfants. We consider it just as special as Vieilles Vignes Françaises (VVF). There are very thin soils here with only about 30cms of topsoil as opposed to 80cms elsewhere in Aÿ. The vines are 20 years old in this plot and were re- planted as a special massal selection.

“It was a great year (2014) but not so good for quantity. We have also made Grande Année and will do RD as well. This vintage needed some time to reveal itself hence why we have released it after ten years rather than the usual seven. Tertiary aromas are just beginning to emerge, I think it’s very interesting to have with the chicken and mushrooms.

“The 2014 viticultural year was one of major contrasts. After a rainy autumn and winter, early spring brought dry and sunny weather, leading to an early budburst in April. June saw record sunshine, while the summer was marked by storms and cool, wet conditions, especially in August. However, mild weather in September helped the vines reach perfect maturity, balancing the challenging summer with excellent vine health and preserving acidity. Harvesting began on 15 September and finished unusually quickly, due to optimal ripeness.”

A wine of remarkable textural complexity, its “generously creamy on the palate where notes of toasted hazelnuts blend seamlessly into a chocolatey finish, enhanced by dried fruits such as apricot and delicate notes of quince jelly,” he says.

For the VVF 2014, we move back to fish with Brixham turbot, sea herbs, fish velouté for a sublime match that would be very hard to trump. Here for Bunner there are lots of cherry notes, orange blossom on the palate, with a slight natural sweetness it’s finished with a 4g/l dosage. As Bollinger aficionados will know this wine is crafted from pre-phylloxera Pinot Noir vines, trained ‘en foule’ as all the vineyards in Champagne were pre-grafting and cultivated using a traditional method called ‘provignage’.

The vines are located in two ‘garden sized’ clos, adjacent to and just over the road from the house in Aÿ. Yields here are tiny at just two tonnes per hectare and only 1865 bottles were made.

The meal concluded with a plum and frangipane tart and Vin Surprise that turned out to be the 1989 vintage of VVF, picked by Bunner as being a comparably cooler vintage. A fitting end to a Pinot Noir Tour de Force.

Bollinger La Côte aux Enfants Champagne 2014 RSP is £1200, available from Fine Wine Merchants.

Vieilles Vignes Françaises 2014, RSP £1,800

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