Bollinger Special Cuvee, 750 ml

From vineyard to bottling, Special Cuvée sees such an extraordinary level of care and attention, it is difficult to place within the non-vintage or, really, any Champagne category. It is a Champagne that stands apart.  Within one bottle, all the complexity of flavor, texture and pleasure that Champagne can offer.  Special Cuvée is truly a journey of devotion from Bollinger.  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 Special Cuvée’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 in large lots in stainless steel tanks, Bollinger persisted to oversee fermentation barrel by barrel for all vintage Champagnes and a remarkable 30% of Special Cuvée. 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, notes such as truffles, ginger and walnut. So you have it all: the freshness that Champagne brings naturally, the secondary notes as the fruit character becomes riper and savory and spicy notes enter, and the third level, when fruit becomes almost crystallized, texture becomes like velvet, and the glass in front of you brings meaning to you and with those you have chosen to share. Special Cuvée does all of this for you.

• Champagne, France
• 30% of Special Cuvée is vinified in used oak of 228 liters. The wine is then matured for 30-36 months on the lees. Each bottle is disgorged by hand to be blended results in wines with a vast spectrum of aromas and flavors, and an unmatched texture.
• In 1911, Georges Bollinger’s British agent gave him the idea for the name Special Cuvée – “special” written the English way, without an accent.
• On the nost: Ripe fruit and spicy aromas, with hints of roasted apples, apple compote and peaches. On the palate, bubbles like velvet with aromas of pear, brioche and spicy aromas, along with notes of fresh walnut
• Bollinger is often considered the ultimate food pairing Champagne. Great match for any fish, especially sushi and sashimi. It brings out the creaminess and sweetness of shellfish, such as shrimp, prawn, crayfish and grilled lobster.