Bollinger

The Bollinger champagne house has always been characterised not only by top-quality champagne, but also by its reputation for unadulterated ethics and a commitment to tradition. In addition, unlike many other prominent houses, which are now part of large groups, Bollinger was and is independent and self-determining family-owned.

The company owns around 152 hectares of vineyards in the best crus, including around Aÿ, Bouzy and Verzenay. 60% of its vineyards are classified as Grand Cru and a further 30% as Premiere Cru. Bollinger is therefore - unlike many other winegrowers - in the enviable position of being able to obtain more than two thirds of the best vines for the production of the 1.5 million bottles/year from its own vineyards.

The focus is on the high-quality Pinot Noir vines, whereby only the must from the first pressing (cuvée) is utilised for Bollinger's champagne. The must from the second pressing (taille) is sold to other winegrowers. Only the Chardonnay grape is sometimes used for the taille in the best vintages. The first fermentation of the wines, sorted by cru, takes place in barriques and stainless steel tanks.

There is even a real cooper among the employees of Bollinger. Part of the cooper's trade is to know the special characteristics of the wood used: "Not all oak is the same". For example, oak from the Limousin region gives a wine different flavours during ageing than oak from the Nevers region. In addition, the proper care of oak barrels before and after use is a time-consuming endeavour.

Reserve wines, on the other hand, are not stored in large barrels but, sorted by cru and vintage, in individual magnum bottles corked under slight pressure.

Furthermore, Bollinger insists that a good champagne should rest on the lees in the bottle for a particularly long time after the second fermentation. While 15 months is standard for non-vintage champagnes in many other houses, Bollinger rests non-vintage champagnes for at least three years. Vintage champagnes are aged for at least five to eight years on the lees, deep in the cool cellars of the house.

The combination of first-class grapes and extremely sophisticated cellar technology produces Bollinger champagnes with very complex flavours, which regularly score very highly at international tastings. The production of champagne was and still is a complex, laborious and expensive endeavour for all winegrowers in Champagne. There are only a few houses like Bollinger that go one step further and impose additional work, strict rules and high costs on themselves.

Bollinger offers connoisseurs an interesting selection of different champagnes:

ImageThe Special Cuvée represent the traditional flavours of the house. They are malolactically fermented in stainless steel tanks. Predominantly made from Grand Cru and Premier Cru vines, they contain a skilful blend of wines up to 10 years old, which have been stored in oak barrels and/or magnum bottles. The grape blend of these non-vintage Champagnes is 60% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay and 15% Pinot Meunier. After the second fermentation, these rest on the lees for at least three years. The Special Cuvée are powerful, full-bodied champagnes with special fruity flavours and a long finish. They are the perfect accompaniment to any meal.

In particularly good vintages, Bollinger produces a vintage champagne called Grande Année. This champagne rests on the lees for at least five years after the second fermentation in the bottles.

The Grande Année Rosé is a vintage champagne to which a little still red wine from vineyards around Aÿ has been added. This gives this champagne a delicate pink colour. This special blend also gives the rosé additional soft fruit flavours and more body.

ImageA speciality of the Bollinger house is the so-called R.D. Champagne. Introduced to the product range around 1960 by the former director of Bollinger, Christian Bizot (1928-2002), this is a vintage champagne that has benefited from at least eight years of proper ageing on the lees, but has only been 'Recently Disgorged' (R.D.) or disgorged recently. The date of disgorgement is noted on a label on the back of the bottle. These R.D. champagnes have additional aromas and a certain youth in their flavour - despite their age.

ImageThe champagnes of Bollinger Vieilles Vignes Françaises (old French vines) are a rarity. Bollinger owns three small plots around Aÿ, where very rare, original Pinot Noir vines still grow, which survived the devastating phylloxera plague. They are still cultivated just as they were in the days of the monk Frère Oudart (this type of cultivation is known as en foule) and cultivated with traditional tools. This is the development of a special type of 'original champagne', which is only produced as vintage champagne. In 1975, Bollinger presented a Vieilles Vignes Françaises vintage Champagne 1969s to the world for the first time.

As champagnes suffer a slight shock during disgorgement after long storage, Bollinger stores its champagnes for at least another three months after final corking. Only then are they delivered.

Historically, the renowned house Bollinger is of great interest to historians, as its roots are deeply rooted in the history of Champagne. The British author Cyril Ray published a comprehensive work called 'Bollinger'. Anyone who reads this book will quickly realise how closely the rise of the House of Bollinger is interwoven with the eventful history of Champagne.

The actual origins of the Bollinger house lie deep in the history of Champagne around 1600 with a noble family called de Villermont. Formerly based in the area around Troyes, the then capital of the Champagne region, the de Villermont family later moved to the wine-growing region around Chalons on the Marne. Over the years, their land holdings increased (partly through marriages with other noble families in the area).

ImageWhen Athanase-Louis-Emmanuel de Villermont (1763-1840) was born, the de Villermont family was already a respected owner of the most valuable vineyards around Aÿ, Bouzy, Cuis and Verzenay. Athanase-Louis-Emmanuel was the younger son of the family and was not considered a future landowner, but was instead destined for a career in the French navy. At this time, the battle for independence of the United States was raging against the English. France sided with the United States. As an officer, Athanase-Louis-Emmanuel not only experienced the cruel fevers that ravaged the crews of the ships, but also naval battles against England off the east coast of North America. On the side of the land troops of American legends such as Washington and Lafayette, he supported the Americans' fight for freedom. He was present, for example, when Admiral de Grasse defeated the English fleet at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. When he returned to France, he briefly served in the royal artillery, but returned to sea. This time, however, he served as a captain in the Russian navy. The author Cyril Ray notes that this career decision proved very favourable more than twenty years later, when the Russian army pursued Napoleon to France in 1814. The Russian army showed its appreciation for his service in the Russian navy at the time by at least leaving Aÿ unharmed. Later, after his service at the French naval academy in Angoulême, Athanase-Louis-Emmanuel was promoted to the rank of admiral and then returned to his vineyards and other estates, which were now in need of care. However, there was a lack of finances. Open trade was also a problem for the nobility.

In the meantime, there was a capable young man named Joseph-Jacob-Placide Bollinger (1803-1884) in the wine trade. He came from the then Kingdom of Würtemberg (Ellwangen) and also came from the nobility. Although he had no vineyards of his own, he was attracted to the wine trade from an early age. In 1822, at the age of 19, he decided to join the then young Müller-Ruinart company (the owner, incidentally, was the same Bavarian emigrant Anton Müller who, together with the widow Clicquot, introduced the riddling desk and remuage). Müller had recently married a lady with the prominent name Ruinart and had previously worked for many years as an extremely capable and dedicated cellar master at Clicquot. Müller was very enterprising and successfully promoted his champagne in the most important markets.

ImageJacob Bollinger served him extremely successfully as a commercial agent in Germany for seven years. It is not clear how Admiral Count de Villermont came into contact with Jacob Bollinger. However, De Villermont recognised the talent and experience of the still young Bollinger. At the same time, the Count had enormous wine resources, but as a nobleman in the trade he was unable to utilise them to the full. He therefore founded a company in 1829 together with Jacob Bollinger and Paul Renaudin (another former commercial representative of the Müller-Ruinart company). An important condition of the Count was that his aristocratic name should not appear anywhere in the trade. Paul Renaudin left the young company a few years later.

In the meantime, Jacob Bollinger became known as Jacques Bollinger and successfully continued to trade the Count's wines. In 1837, he married the 20-year-old Mlle Louise-Charlotte de Villermont, daughter of the Count de Villermont. The author Cyril Ray notes that Jacques Bollinger was later often referred to as Bollinger de Villermont. In 1854, the German Jacob (Jacques) Bollinger officially became French by naturalisation. He expanded the Count's estate with new vineyards around Verzenay. Jacques and Louise-Charlotte Bollinger had a daughter (Marie) and two sons (Joseph and Georges). The sons Joseph and Georges successfully continued to run the business and acquired additional vineyards around Bouzy, Louvois, Tauxieres and Verzenay. In their time, the Bollinger house was also honoured as an official supplier to the royal court in England.

Image1909 to 1911 were years of deepest discontent among the winegrowers of Champagne. On the one hand, there was a revolt by winegrowers in the Aube region, where a decree (délimitation) was to deny the local winegrowers their membership of Champagne. On the other hand, 1909 and 1910 were two extremely poor vintages for the winegrowers. The dissatisfaction of many winegrowers was further fuelled by the import of cheap, foreign wines from other regions of Europe by some unscrupulous houses in Champagne. Ultimately, the justified indignation of the winegrowers culminated in a major uprising on 12 April 1911. Neither the royal dragoons nor troops from Reims were able to put a stop to the furious winegrowers. In a blind rage, they also attacked the town of Aÿ, destroying not only unscrupulous, money-grabbing houses, but also many righteous ones. Around the house of Bollinger, the winegrowers went on the rampage, prestigious champagne houses were set ablaze and large stocks of wine were dumped in the streets. Remarkably, however, House Bollinger was spared by the angry mob and remained completely unscathed. Even in their fury, the winegrowers respected the traditional and time-honoured ethics of House Bollinger.

Another Jacques Bollinger, the grandson of the original, legendary Jacques Bollinger, took over the management of the company in 1918. At the age of 24, he had just completed his service in the French Air Force and had been awarded several medals for his bravery in the First World War (Légion d'Honneur and the Croix de Guerre with palms). He devoted himself conscientiously to the reconstruction, cultivation and expansion of the Bollinger vineyards. When the Second World War broke out, he was called back into service in the French Air Force, but was in poor health. During the German occupation, Jacques Bollinger was mayor of Aÿ. This already demanding post was undoubtedly particularly hard on this remarkable man during the occupation, whose health deteriorated noticeably. He died in 1941 at the age of only 47. It was his last wish that his wife, Elisabeth ('Lily') Bollinger (1899-1977), should continue to run the company after his death.

Elisabeth ('Lily') de Lauriston-Boubers came from a wealthy, noble family (related to the Marquis de Boubers). Her father Oliver de Lauriston-Boubers was an officer in the cavalry. In 1923 she married Jacques Bollinger. After years of working together at Bollinger, their childless marriage ended in 1941 with Jacques' early death.

The widow Lily Bollinger took over the reins of the company during the occupation by the German Wehrmacht. The Wehrmacht not only confiscated the Bollinger building, but also 178,000 bottles of the champagne in stock. Champagne continued to be produced despite the difficult circumstances. As petrol was in very short supply at the time, the hard-working young widow would hop on her bike every day and cycle to work in her vineyards.

It was also the wish of the Wehrmacht that the business should continue. However, there was a considerable shortage of labour due to the war. As a result, Bollinger managed to convince the Wehrmacht that many of its former employees would have to be freed from German captivity to resume work in the vineyards. On 22 August 1944, the American '3rd Army' under General Patton liberated the area around the house Bollinger. After the end of the war, the 'Widow Lily' began to swap remote vineyards for others closer to home and to strategically buy up other vineyards in her area (around Ay, Mutigny, Grauves in 1955 and 1968, as well as around Bisseuil in 1961). At the same time, she stepped up her marketing efforts and doubled the company's turnover. At the English royal court, Bollinger became the official house champagne under George VI and Queen Elizabeth II. Even 'Agent 007', the famous (not quite!) fictional charmer and hero James Bond, drinks Bollinger champagne. In 1976, the French state awarded Lily Bollinger the Ordre National du Merit (National Order of Merit). Despite her great success and countless international honours, Lily remained modest and continued to cycle tirelessly through her vineyards well into old age. In 1971, she handed over the management of the company to her nephew Claude d'Hautefeuille and died in 1977 at the age of 78.

Image
Claude d'Hautfeuille (1913-2000), son-in-law of Madame Therese de Valbray (sister of Madame 'Lily' Bollinger), modernised the company and bought more vineyards around Champvoisy. At the same time, he promoted the international development of the Bollinger brand.

Image1978 to 1994 Christian Bizot (1928-2002), son of the younger sister of the widow Lily Bolliger (Guillemette Bizot) and sixth president of Bollinger, managed the fortunes of the company. Christian Bizot joined Bollinger in 1952 at the age of 24. Bizot was not only considered to be particularly experienced in the preparation of the best champagnes, but also developed additional specialities such as the remarkable R.D. champagnes (see above). He strictly rejected the 'practical compromises' of commerce (quantity instead of quality) and focussed exclusively on the quality and individuality of his champagnes.

At the beginning of the 1990s, when the quality of champagne was increasingly criticised, it was Bizot who launched the 'Charter of Ethics and Quality' in 1992. As a statement of the already traditional honesty and openness of the Bollinger house, he emphasised this credo, for example, by affixing a label with valid information to all Bollinger champagnes without vintage (Special Cuvée). This created absolute transparency, because now everyone could see which grape varieties were used in the blend or whether the blend had been stored long enough. This is important data that often remains in the dark with many other champagnes.

The Charter of Ethics and Quality says it all:

*The name Bollinger is only used for those wines that have been produced by Bollinger.
* 70% of the vines come from our own vineyards.
* Bollinger primarily uses the yield from the first pressing (cuvée) for the production of its champagnes (temporary exceptions are only permitted for particularly high-quality vintages of Chardonnay, where the waist can also be used for production).
* Each cru, as well as each grape variety represented in the cru, is taken into account during the first fermentation.
* The first fermentation of the reserve wines as well as the wines designated as Grande Année are matured in oak barrels.
* Bollinger blends are made predominantly from grapes from Grand Cru and Premier Cru vineyards. The "predominantly" specifically means: 100% for Grande Année Champagne and 80% for Special Cuvée. * Blends consist primarily of Pinot Noir. For Grande Année approx. 65%, for Special Cuvée approx.60%.
* Reserve wines are stored in magnum bottles. Storage in the bottles also requires natural corks.
* Bollinger Special Cuvée Champagnes must rest on the lees for at least three years before disgorging. Vintage Champagnes (Grande Année) require at least five years of ageing on the lees. R.D. Champagne requires at least eight years of this type of ageing.
After disgorging, the champagne must rest for at least three months before it can be delivered.

Image
Label on the back of a Bollinger Special Cuvée from the American market with corresponding references from the charter as they relate to this particular champagne.

Christian Bizot proved that unconditional quality and a sense of tradition can still be successfully implemented in large companies today. It is therefore no wonder that even after his death, Christian Bizot is still deeply honoured by countless winegrowers and champagne fans worldwide.

This brings us to the seventh president of Bollinger: Ghislain de Montgolfier is also a nephew of the widow 'Lily Bollinger'. In 1969/70, he served as assistant director of the Bollinger vineyards. In 1994, he was appointed president of Bollinger and continues to run Bollinger to this day, in keeping with the old tradition.

 

Back to the lexicon & glossary | You were here: Bollinger