Product Overview
Winery's Notes:
"In the same way that Special Cuvée stands apart from non-vintage Champagnes, Bollinger Rosé is an exception for Rosé Champagnes. What is more, it is a relative secret, as Bollinger did not release a non-vintage Rosé until 2008 and the quantity produced is quite limited. The wine begins as Special Cuvée and then Bollinger's specialty as the Pinot Noir producer in Champagne takes center stage.
Bollinger is the producer most associated with a single grape variety in Champagne, namely Pinot Noir. This more difficult grape to grow makes up a minimum of 60% of all of Bollinger's Champagne. The harmony of Pinot Noir's richness and elegance plays a large part in Rosé's distinct profile, the ripe red berries and powerful impact a clear signature. Then there is the other association that Bollinger is so well known for: winemaking in barrel. As virtually every Champagne producer in the latter half of the 20th century moved to fermenting large lots in stainless steel tanks, Bollinger persisted to oversee fermentation barrel by barrel for all vintage Champagnes and a remarkable 30% of Rosé. Why? Because the development of flavors becomes so much more complex, and the texture rounder and silkier. A third Bollinger specialty is the aging of Champagnes. Most Champagnes on the market are primarily made up of the most recently harvested vintage before requirements to age in bottle. Bollinger is primarily made up of Champagnes that are NOT from the most recent vintage, and in the end a newly released bottle of Bollinger is around 7-8 years old. A fourth – and utterly distinct – practice at Bollinger is the use of Reserve Magnums. The best vineyards will be aged under cork in magnum for up to 15 years, and hand disgorged into the final blend to bring the aromas and flavors only a great aged Champagne can display.
The Bollinger Brut Rosé starts with a base of Special Cuvée: complex and full bodied, perfectly balanced with fresh acidity and a texture that only time can lend, creating a harmony of richness and elegance. 30% of the base wine is vinified in used oak barrels of 228 liters, with some 400 liter casks up to 40 years old. The wine will have matured for 30-36 months on the lees, with a final blend of 50% reserve wines, and 5-10% of the blend consisting of reserve wines 5-15 years of age kept in magnum under cork. This totally unique, laborious process (each magnum is disgorged by hand to be blended) results in wines with a vast spectrum of aromas and flavors, and an unmatched texture. Then, because of the quality and power of Bollinger's still red Pinot, only 5-6% of red wine is added, less than half (or even a third) what you find in typical Rosé Champagnes. The red wine is made in a Burgundian fashion, with minimal handling with a pure structure and fruit the objective. It sees 8 months in barrel."
Varietal Composition: 62% Pinot Noir, 24% Chardonnay, 14% Meunier (on average)
Dosage: 7-8 g/L
94 Points - Wine Spectator
"Pretty hints of orchard blossoms and ripe fruit show on the nose of this statuesque rosé Champagne. Integrates a frame of vivid acidity and a rich underpinning of chalky minerality with a fine, raw silk–like mousse that carries the layered flavors of wild cherry and strawberry, peach skin and Marcona almond. A touch of pleasingly bitter pink grapefruit pith cleans the finish. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier. Drink now through 2029. 1,000 cases imported." -AN, 11/30/24
92 Points - Wine Advocate
"The latest release of Bollinger's NV Brut Rosé is showing especially well, offering up complex aromas of sweet stone fruit, honeycomb, freshly baked bread and orange oil, followed by a medium to full-bodied, pillowy and vinous palate. Layered and concentrated, with a pretty pinpoint mousse and ripe but racy acids, it concludes with a long, expansive finish." -WK, 8/31/22
