Among all the Champagnes in the Champagne region, today's house will most certainly rank among the some of the most recognisable to everyone ranging from Champagne afficionados to the average imbiber of the bubbly.

James Bond fans most certainly will!

Particularly renowned for its non-vintage cuvées — which are blended from multiple vintages — Champagne Bollinger has been making some excellent stuff since its founding in 1829. From royal roots to being the favored drink of super spy James Bond, the house certainly entertains!

A House Not Named After Its Royal Founders: A Tale of Three Families

An older label that includes both the Renaudin and Bollinger family names.

Unbeknownst to most, Bollinger was actually founded by a combined effort of three families; the Bollingers, yes, but also the Hennequin de Villermonts, and the Renaudins.

As the story goes, Count Athanase-Louis-Emmanuel Hennequin de Villermont (long name, we know!) loved champagne so much he had begun to make his own wine. Problem was he was a member of the aristocracy, which legally restricted him from selling his champagne himself. As a way to side step the red tape, he partnered with Jacques Bollinger and Champagne native Paul Renaudin to help sell his wines. On Feb. 6, 1829, the company Renaudin-Bollinger & Cie was founded. Later, Jacques Bollinger married Charlotte de Villermont and the house has since been managed by the Bollinger family since. 

In 1885, the sons of Athanase-Louis-Emmanuel Hennequin de Villermont, Joseph and Georges, took over the family business. Joseph and Georges embarked on a period of expansion, acquiring vineyards in nearby villages. A significant milestone under the brothers' leadership, was the award of a Royal Warrant from Queen Victoria in 1884, recognising Bollinger's quality and prestige.

Jacques Bollinger (named after his grandfather), the son of Georges Bollinger, later assumed control of the family business in 1918. He married Élisabeth Law de Lauriston Boubers, affectionately known as "Lily", who would become a seminal figure in the Bollinger story.

Bollinger Champagne Was Led By The "First Lady Of France"

No, we're not talking about the President's wife. After Jacques's passing in 1941, Lily would take over the house and help usher it into a new age.

It wasn't the best time to do so, either. World War 2 was still raging over Europe, and both manpower and equipment was scarce. Nevertheless, she endured.

Following the conclusion of World War II, Lily Bollinger made it her personal mission to bring her house's champagnes across the globe. On 25 October 1951, Madame Bollinger set sail on the liner Liberté toward New York.

This would mark the beginning of a tour that would last the next 25 years, where she effectively rampaged across North America and the United Kingdom, meeting day after day with journalists and suppliers.

Through hosting tastings and intense networking, she built such a favorable reputation that she earned herself the nickname “First Lady of France” from the Chicago American in 1961.

For 30 years, she combined modern farming techniques with traditional Champagne methods, emphasising the importance of tradition.

The Récemment Dégorgé Cuvée.

One of her most significant contributions was the creation of R.D. – Récemment Dégorgé ("Recently Disgorged") in 1967.

R.D. cuvée is also characterised by its exceptional aging process. Made from older vintages, often dating back decades, R.D. is disgorged by hand after being aged on its lees for an extended period (four times longer than the regulated minimum).

Madame Bollinger also played a crucial role in preserving the heritage of Champagne. In 1969, she decided to produce a wine from "Vieilles Vignes Françaises" (Old French Vines), the last vines to survive the phylloxera epidemic in the 1900s that devastated many vineyards in the region.

The Vines of House Bollinger

Bollinger owns up to 180 hectares of vineyards, producing over 60% of its own grapes. Specifically, its vineyards are primarily planted with Pinot Noir Clone 386.

85% of these vineyards are classified as Grand or Premier Cru. These vineyards are spread across seven distinct locations: Aÿ, Avenay, Tauxières, Louvois, and Verzenay in the Montagne de Reims, Cuis in the Côte des Blancs, and Champvoisy in the Vallée de la Marne.

In particular, the house is renowned for its two exceptional plots, Clos Saint-Jacques and Chaudes Terres. These two plots are the few, rare remaining vines  which avoided the the phylloxera epidemic.

These ungrafted vines are meticulously tended by hand and propagated using a technique called provignage, with the utmost care afforded to them.

The Wines of House Bollinger

Bollinger is renowned for its distinctive use of Pinot Noir, which constitutes a significantly higher proportion of its blends compared to the overall Champagne region.

While Pinot Noir accounts for only 38 per cent of the grapes grown in Champagne, Bollinger's champagnes typically contain around 60 per cent Pinot Noir, contributing to their signature style.

Their most notable champagne is their non-vintage Special Cuvée. The blend includes up to 10 per cent reserve wines, which can be as old as 15 years. Typically composed of 60 per cent Pinot Noir, 25 per cent Chardonnay, and 15 per cent Pinot Meunier, the Special Cuvée is aged on the lees for a minimum of five years before release.

Their vintage is the Grande Année, which is also available as a Rosé. 

The wine spends five years on its lees, allowing the flavors to develop and become more complex. Additionally, the cuvée is aged in bottle under cork rather than the more common crown seal. 

The composition of the Special Cuvée is 65 per cent Pinot Noir and 35 per cent Chardonnay.

While primarily known for its exceptional champagnes, Bollinger also produces a single still wine called La Côte aux Enfants. A 100 per cent Pinot Noir crafted in the Burgundian style, it notably uses whole-cluster vinification, a technique that preserves the grapes' natural character.

Aged in small oak barrels, this wine is a limited-edition wine produced only in exceptional vintages when the harvesters deem the grapes to be of the highest quality. The grapes are grown on the south-facing slope of the 100 per cent echelle vineyard, the Côte aux Enfants in Aÿ.

Each year, Bollinger sets aside a portion of their finest grapes from Grand Cru and Premier Cru vineyards for reserve wines. These reserve wines are bottled in magnums, sealed with cork, and aged for a minimum of five to fifteen years.

The Methods of Bollinger

At harvest, the house usually uses only the first pressing (cuvée), although it does sell some second pressings (tailles). It utilizes two pressing houses, Louvois and Mareuil sur Aÿ.

Wines that will not hold up to first fermentation in wood are vinified in vats. Bollinger Champagnes usually undergo malolactic fermentation with traditional yeast. 

Vintage wines are aged only in oak while non-vintage wines are aged in both oak and stainless steel. The wines are only lightly filtered. Bollinger ages their non-vintage wines three years, and the vintage wines five to eight years.

Regardless of vintage or not, Bollinger remains steadfast in its use of traditional oak barrels. 

Oak is said to allow for continuous, slow oxidation, which helps to soften the tannins in wine and add a touch of sweetness and aromatic complexity. The continued usage of oak is a rare sight in Champagne. Of the numerous houses in the region, Bollinger is one of just two houses that continue to use oak barrel aging.

Just over a decade ago, an intern at Champagne Bollinger stumbled upon a shocking discovery. When a wall of empty bottles were removed for cleaning, a sealed wall was uncovered.

Upon being knocked down it revealed 600 bottles of magnum reserve wines and wine collections of the Bollinger family. These bottles dated back to as early as 1830. 

The vintages were soon restored and are now displayed in two wine libraries at the estate, Galerie 1829 and La Réserve.

House Bollinger Survived Two World Wars, A Plague, And A Mass Riot

As mentioned earlier, Bollinger has been through quite a few trying periods since its inception.

Notably, the phylloxera epidemic of the 1900s affected Bollinger as it did so many other producers in Champagne. An insect pest related to aphids, they feed on the roots and leaves of grapevines, oftentimes causing further infections on the vines.

Only three plots belonging to Bollinger initially survived; Clos St-Jacques in Aÿ, Chaudes Terres in Aÿ and Croix Rouge in Bouzy. Another outbreak in 2005 decimated the Croix Rouge plot, leaving only two plots of old world vines left.

Soldiers deployed in Épernay. A telegram was sent to Paris requesting reinforcements, and the next day there were 40,000 soldiers sent.

There was also the vine-growers revolt in 1911, which saw Georges Bollinger protect his house against a rioting mobs that descended upon the village of Aÿ.

Driven by longtime economic hardship due to overproduction, falling prices, and unfair trade practices, these revolts aimed to improve conditions for vine growers. It was said that homes of private citizens as well as Champagne houses were pillaged and ransacked, and by morning the whole village was burning.

Of course, there were the two world wars to contend with. In particular, the house's activities in WW2 were well documented.

During the war, Lily had the foresight to discreetly hand off bottles of Champagne to German soldiers, hoping to deter them from raiding her cellars in search of intoxication.

One notable anecdote involves Otto Klaebisch, the German "Weinfuhrer" appointed to oversee the Champagne region. When Klaebisch visited the grounds of Bollinger, Madame Bollinger greeted him politely but then seated him in a chair that was far too small.

Rather than endure the discomfort, it was said that Klaebisch remained standing throughout the visit and never returned to the Bollinger estate. 

After a bombing in August 1944, Lily also opened the Bollinger house as a refuge for the town's residents, and even took charge of funeral arrangements for the victims.

The British Sure Love Bollinger Champagne

Lok Bing Hong A budding journalist that loves experiencing new things and telling people's stories. I have 30 seconds of irresponsibly sanctimonious brilliance a day. I do not decide when they come. They are not consecutive.