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Bollinger Cote Aux Enfants Grand Cru Ay, Blanc de Noirs 2013

Bollinger

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Units Size Case size GBP Price: Quantities Buy
3 75cl Bottle Case 3 £2,500 per Case Case [Add to shopping basket]
Tasting Notes

While one might have expected the cool, northwest-facing part of this famed Aÿ vineyard to produce a rather unyielding wine in a vintage like this, Bollinger's brilliant 2013 Brut Blanc de Noirs La Côte Aux Enfants is actually easier to understand than the rather more reserved inaugural 2012 release. Unwinding in the glass with aromas of smoky orchard fruit, crisp peach, beeswax, mocha, warm spices and toasted nuts, it's full-bodied, taut and chiseled, with a deep and concentrated core of fruit, a beautifully refined pinpoint mousse and a long, electric finish. All the energy and cut that one could wish for is combined with the house's trademark vinous, complex style to deliver a wine of real character and élan.

Score: 97

William Kelley, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com Maturity: 2025-2040 14 December 2023

(100% pinot noir, produced exclusively from La Côte aux Enfants vineyard, disgorged March 2022). An even more reserved if noticeably more complex nose reluctantly displays its aromas of cool quinine, Granny Smith apples, spice, floral and vaguely exotic tea and toasty bread. The intense and lilting medium weight flavors are supported by a moderately firm but quite fine mousse on the strikingly complex, balanced, youthfully austere and strikingly long finale. This is at once very stylish and classy while offering excellent development potential. In short, this is stunningly good. One of Champagne's reference points, Bollinger's serious approach to farming, Pinot Noir-dominated style, commitment to barrel fermentation and maturation and superb palette of prime terroirs mark it out as one of the leading Grandes Marques today. On my most recent visit, chef des caves Denis Bunner and I tasted through three Blanc de Noirs bottling, from the Aÿ-based 2018 PN AYC, to the second release of a Champagne from La Côte Aux Enfants, to the house's emblematic Vieilles Vignes Françaises.

Score: 97

Allen Meadows, Burghound Maturity: 2028+ 01 October 2023

Complex aromas of pie crust, iron, chalk and hints of sweet strawberries. Some ginseng. Full-bodied with very fine bubbles that give it tension and focus. Extremely fine and polished tannins that go on and on. Dried lemons and oranges. Chalk at the end. Hints of bitterness in the finish with subtle botanicals. Made from a single vineyard monopole of pure pinot noir. Drink now.

Score: 99

James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com 07 July 2023