Bollinger 2003

  • 94 Wine &
    Spirits
  • 94 Wine
    Spectator
  • 92 Wine
    Enthusiast
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Bollinger  2003 Front Label
Bollinger  2003 Front Label

Product Details


Varietal

Region

Producer

Vintage
2003

Size
750ML

ABV
12%

Features
Collectible

Your Rating

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Somm Note

Winemaker Notes

What makes "2003 by Bollinger" so Special? A late freeze, followed by damaging storms and one of the hottest summers on record allowed the vines to ripen only a very few grapes at a time creating the earliest harvest in Champagne since 1822. The grapes come from our three most historic vineyards in Aÿ, Verzenay and Cuis, which in exceptional years would supply La Grande Année, but in this truly unique vintage display the variation that weather plays despite the same vinification process.

Light Straw. Light citrus and Gala apples with a subtle hint of Marcona almonds.

A smooth mousse, with crisp red apples notes followed by a very subtle nuttiness in the finish. This one of a kind wine displays the exceptional qualities of the 2003 vintage as made in the traditional Bollinger style.

Professional Ratings

  • 94
    Burgundian complexity is there from the moment this wine is first poured, and it is a wine as much as a Champagne, with remarkable balance given the extreme conditions of 2003. The firm's vineyards were hit with a spring frost, hail in June and excessive heat in summer. Bollinger blended pinot noir from Ay and Verzenay with chardonnay from Cuis to produce a wine that translates the vintage power and intensity into symphonic breadth. It has graceful length, a contrast of dark spice (enhanced by fermentation in older oak barrels) and pure limestone whiteness, the rasp of apple skin and the sweetness of vanilla. Delicious to drink, this is a concentrated, main-course wine for poulet de Bresse braised with truffles.
  • 94
    Inviting and seductive, this opulent Champagne features plenty of mineral, toast, butterscotch, citrus and vanilla pastry flavors, matched to a lush texture. It’s a bubbly you can relax into, like a plush pillow, yet has surprising length. Drink now through 2020
  • 92
    This young vintage is outside the usual Grande Année range of vintages. Bollinger sees the unique heat of 2003 as a reason to make a special vintage for release early. The wine is rich, but being Bollinger, the richness has translated into the full character of the house style. It is relatively dry, packed with white fruits. Not for aging. Drink now.
Bollinger

Champagne Bollinger

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Champagne Bollinger, France
Champagne Bollinger Winery Video

In 1829, Champagne Bollinger introduced an instantly recognizable, dry, toasty style that connoisseurs around the globe have coveted ever since. Six generations of the Bollinger family have maintained that trademark style, and Bollinger is one of the rare Grande Marque houses to be owned, controlled and managed by the same family since it was founded.

With 399 acres of vineyards situated in the best Grands Crus and Premiers Crus villages, Bollinger relies on its own estate for nearly two-thirds of its grape requirements, including the Pinot Noir that gives its Champagne its distinctive roundness and elegance. Bollinger is one of a select few houses that can control the quality of its grape supply so carefully.

Bollinger is renowned for its stringent quality standards. It adheres to traditional methods, including individual vinification of each marc and cru, barrel fermentation (it is the last Champagne house to employ a full-time cooper) and extra-aging on the lees prior to disgorgement.

Members of the British Royal Court were among the first to embrace Bollinger’s unmistakable quality, and Queen Victoria made Bollinger the exclusive purveyor to the Court by Royal Warrant in 1884. Besides royalty, loyal devotees have included heads of state, celebrities and even famous fictional characters: Agent 007, James Bond, demands the exclusive Champagne Bollinger.

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Representing the topmost expression of a Champagne house, a vintage Champagne is one made from the produce of a single, superior harvest year. Vintage Champagnes account for a mere 5% of total Champagne production and are produced about three times in a decade. Champagne is typically made as a blend of multiple years in order to preserve the house style; these will have non-vintage, or simply, NV on the label. The term, "vintage," as it applies to all wine, simply means a single harvest year.

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Associated with luxury, celebration, and romance, the region, Champagne, is home to the world’s most prized sparkling wine. In order to bear the label, ‘Champagne’, a sparkling wine must originate from this northeastern region of France—called Champagne—and adhere to strict quality standards. Made up of the three towns Reims, Épernay, and Aÿ, it was here that the traditional method of sparkling wine production was both invented and perfected, birthing a winemaking technique as well as a flavor profile that is now emulated worldwide.

Well-drained, limestone and chalky soil defines much of the region, which lend a mineral component to its wines. Champagne’s cold, continental climate promotes ample acidity in its grapes but weather differences from year to year can create significant variation between vintages. While vintage Champagnes are produced in exceptional years, non-vintage cuvées are produced annually from a blend of several years in order to produce Champagnes that maintain a consistent house style.

With nearly negligible exceptions, . These can be blended together or bottled as individual varietal Champagnes, depending on the final style of wine desired. Chardonnay, the only white variety, contributes freshness, elegance, lively acidity and notes of citrus, orchard fruit and white flowers. Pinot Noir and its relative Pinot Meunier, provide the backbone to many blends, adding structure, body and supple red fruit flavors. Wines with a large proportion of Pinot Meunier will be ready to drink earlier, while Pinot Noir contributes to longevity. Whether it is white or rosé, most Champagne is made from a blend of red and white grapes—and uniquely, rosé is often produce by blending together red and white wine. A Champagne made exclusively from Chardonnay will be labeled as ‘blanc de blancs,’ while ones comprised of only red grapes are called ‘blanc de noirs.’

PIN178945_2003 Item# 99945

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