Bollinger La Cote aux Enfants Blanc de Noirs 2015

Many believe that the rare Champagne version of La Côte aux Enfants has replaced the red wine of the same name. This is incorrect. The south-facing slope that produces one of the most powerful Pinot Noir expressions Bollinger has at its disposal is still used for the red wine, but the hard and compact chalk on the west side produces wines of a completely different character and is made in vanishingly small quantities as a world-class Blanc de Noirs. When Björnstierne and I tasted 2014 La Côte aux Enfants and Bollinger Vieilles Vignes Françaises from the same vintage at Old Man Storr in Scotland, the late-harvest edition of La Côte aux Enfants was almost as rich and viscously powerful as the VVF. Now that the wine came from a warm 2015 and the VVF emerged from the light year of 2016, I expected a heavily loaded behemoth, but instead I was greeted with the lightest and most finely tuned edition of Enfants to date. This is how terroir can control vintage character if the location has its own exceptional character, as is the case here. Not nearly as much "Right in your face" character as VVF, but an extremely sublime chalk reaking string quartet that elegantly passes all difficult passages with the light flapping of an Aurora butterfly's wings. The intensity of the color and sparkling clarity suggest that we are dealing with a Blanc de Noirs. The aroma, however, has the same minerality as a Blanc de Blancs from Avize or Le Mesnil. Extremely fresh and cool bouquet of chalk, geranium, orange blossom, lemon and blood grape. In the complexly structured taste, I find the same earthy notes as in the aroma. In addition to citrus and chalk-oriented mineral notes, there are also Gravenstein apple, gunpowder, oyster shell and a whole armada of maritime salt-splashed and salivating gastro elements. If, against all odds, you come across this rare treasure, promise me to wait until 2035 before drinking it. I am convinced that the mineral backbone the wine is built around will carry the fruit and the new layers of maturity with pride and reverence.

For the fourth consecutive year, the grapes from the north-west facing side of the hill produce La Côte aux Enfants Champagne. Known as a challenging year due to drought related issues, in 2015 the site’s chalky subsoil with thin topsoil came to rescue, showing a strong terroir imprint in the wine. The nose opens with sweet, sun kissed fruit of quince, orange blossom and golden raisins, completely free of the vegetal notes troubling many of the vintage’s wines. There is quite the contrast to the palate, which comes with scintillating vibrancy and energizingly prickly texture. There is immaculate saline freshness to the palate, into which the bitterness from the phenolics contributes. Refined and precise, this is the best edition of La Côte aux Enfants Champagne yet.