If the salmon/orange doesn’t grab your attention, the generous spicy gingerbread and brioche nose will. Citrus drenched cherries and redcurrants mark the fruit that seemed to jump out of the glass with bubbles. This is a dinner wine that is big enough to suit most birds or Asian foods. If dessert is your game, the winery suggests rhubarb and red berry crumble. The wine is a 72/28 blend of pinot noir and chardonnay and 95 percent Grand Cru fruit. it is cellared for twice the required time, and bears a modest dosage of 7 grams per liter. A must for rosé champagne lovers. Champagne Bollinger was established in 1829 by Jacques Bollinger and Paul Renaudin. Mme Lily Bollinger played a key role in the company’s development between 1941 and 1977. Today it is managed by her great-nephew, Ghislain de Montgolfier. The style, while always muscular with body, depth and power, has changed of late. There is a new finesse here adding to the appeal of what was already one of the best sparkling wine producers on the planet. Some 70 percent of the grapes come from the firm's own vineyards, and uniquely some 80 percent of the harvest is barrel-fermented, with the wines being kept on their yeast lees for an extended period of time – as much as a decade for the R.D.
July 2016