WTN: By appointment of HM, the James Bond Champagne house

In the interests of hearing from others about why they like or dislike certain wine styles (which I always find fascinating)...

Bollinger Special Cuvee NV
I can understand why some people love Bollie, but it has never quite done enough for me. Here's why for this particular wine:

The spritz is like a whitewash of sea waves crashing on rocks (even in clean glassware )... i.e., lots of fizz! I don't like sparklers to have TOO much fizz.
A nose of pear edging on quince, some glue stick / paper paste-glue; then browned/oxidised apple with more air, and a slight marzipan/dry biscotti aroma. The nose is nice, but I generally prefer brioche/biscuit/bread to glue; and I tend to enjoy, for example, fresh apple/lemon/florals to bruised apple.
The style is very fresh. This bottle actually has a slightly sharp and hard finish (I would actually call it slightly cutting, though many people would just call it refreshing). I like freshness, but this is a little too fresh for me given what else is there. I like to see more smoothness/cream in the finish too.

Don't get me wrong, this is very good Champagne, it's just that I personally prefer more creamy and biscuity styles, with acidity that doesn't dominate too much. For me, the Bollie SC NV is like an upmarket "function Champagne" where you are chatting with people: you don't pay too much attention to the wine in the glass, and you don't need to!

As far as oak-influenced Champagnes go, I prefer Pol, Roederer and Krug, but I can understand why this has the rep it does. I'd be interested to hear others' thoughts on this.

My thoughts on Bollinger NV are very much the same as yours and I definitely echo your preference for "subdued" champagnes! Anyone who's read any of my champagne ramblings on here knows I definitely steer towards more seductive/languid/caramel-ish ones to overly "fresh" ones.

I, too, like Bollinger but would probably choose Krug Grand Cuvee between the oakier big name NV's. I find a little more lemony richness and concentration in the Krug NV. However, the Bollinger Grand Annee is another pleasure altogether. I recently had a 96 that showed more "exotic" notes and honey- ish characteristics that I love and which definitely stand out better (and more deliciously) than the NV. Being a 96 it still isn't as "aged" as I personally prefer but when it's this tasty it's hard to be patient. Luckily, I bought 2 bottles at the time of purchase (about 5 years ago) so the other is still resting quietly in the cellar for, hopefully, an even more pleasureable uncorking in the future.

So in general I would agree with James Bond that Bollinger is always in good taste Of course in watching Goldfinger last week (probably my favorite along with Dr. No and The Spy Who Loved Me), I was reminded that in his famous "bed scene" with Shirley Eaton, they were enjoying Dom Perignon (a '59 was it? I'll have to watch the scene again...). Of course, if having the pleasure to share the "company" of such a playful cute blonde I wouldn't really worry which of the two houses got chilled! I would prefer such a hot girl to NOT get turned into Gold however!

Come to think of it, if It was me there I'd have probably selected a well cellared Salon to happily share with her. An all blonde beauty for a blonde beauty! Who better to share it with!

Jeff

I find that Bolly's Special Cuvée responds very well to some 3-4 years ageing. I always put a sticker with purchase date on my bottles and use them on a first in first out basis. It is then far superior to most other Grande Marque NV, except the richer Krug, and perhaps Roederer. The main fly in the ointment is price escalation; two years ago I could buy it in Leclerc supermarkets in France for €27 but they no longer stock it and the cheapest I can find it here is €42; but that is 3-4 times less than Krug's now inaccessible Grande Cuvée.

[David M. Bueker]

Despite the pricing, this is still my absolute favorite of the big house NV Champagnes. I do always age it for 3-4 years before opening though.

I find that Bolly's Special Cuvée responds very well to some 3-4 years ageing. I always put a sticker with purchase date on my bottles and use them on a first in first out basis. It is then far superior to most other Grande Marque NV, except the richer Krug, and perhaps Roederer. The main fly in the ointment is price escalation; two years ago I could buy it in Leclerc supermarkets in France for €27 but they no longer stock it and the cheapest I can find it here is €42; but that is 3-4 times less than Krug's now inaccessible Grande Cuvée.

Hi Tim,

The aging point is a good one since many NV champagnes can taste almost "night and day" different just solely by aging them awhile. I wrote once before about how I discovered this "phenomena" with Louis Roederer NV. I drank a couple bottles when too newly released (too green) and it wasn't until I had an aged bottle that I saw the true light. It was still pleasantly "fresh" but had much more weight and tropical-like richness. And it was just so much more perfectly balanced and harmonized, to my tastes. Yet, in name, it was just the same exact wine that I just "didn't get" two times before.

I also have little bottle neck tags that I adorn my bottles with so that I know how long I've had all my NV's. I even write the CH/PN/PM abbreviations on each tag along with the approximate percentages so that at a glance I can decide if I'm in a largely CH based mood that night, a PN/PM one, or anything inbetween.

I'm not sure if they are easily findanle where you are but here I've found several websites/wine stores that offer the Krug NV in half bottles so that you don' t have to spend the full and high price for the full bottles. They still aren't cheap and you could still get TWO full Bollinger NV bottles for the price of just one Krug half! But it might be an option if you really like Krug but don't want to always splurge on full bottles.

Jeff

Jeff, David, Tim, thanks for the comments.

Good point re ageing; I believe most decent NV Champagnes benefit from a few years. Perhaps I just need to try NV Bollie with a few years on it.