Wines with Age

wines

A fine straw-gold colour with great finesse of bubble flow and mousse. Joyful aromas of apple blossom and ripe pear. A full, defined palate demonstrates richness that will help to give this a long life in the cellar.Decanter | 95 DEC(NV Billecart-Salmon Brut Réserve NV (2008 Release)) This particular bottle of Brut Réserve had been in my cellar since 2008, and it has aged beautifully and was drinking very well when opened this past spring. The excellent nose wafts from the glass in a mélange of apple, peach, warm bread, a touch of ginger, a lovely base of soil and plenty of upper register smokiness. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bdoied, complex and still rock solid at the core, with fine mousse, bright acids and lovely length and grip on the wide open, complex and classy finish. This particular release of Brut Réserve had been particularly steely out of the blocks, which is why I tucked some away to see how it evolved with bottle age. Yet again, a pretty strong argument for treating non-vintage Brut bottlings like other fine wines and cellar them for some time before starting to drink them! (Drink between 2014-2025).John Gilman | 92 JGA harmonious Champagne that’s satiny in texture, framing flavors of Asian pear, star fruit, pastry and honey with mouthwatering acidity. Offers a fine and creamy finish. Drink now through 2021.Wine Spectator | 91 WSPlenty of ripe strawberries and wild raspberries on the nose here. Really attractive and vibrant in the mouth with fresh wild strawberries. It also shows a fleshy, fresh-fruit texture. Drink now.James Suckling | 91 JSBased on the 2015 vintage and disgorged with nine grams per liter dosage, the latest release of Billecart’s NV Brut Réserve contains fully 55% reserve wines and is showing very well, offering up complex aromas of warm bread, crisp green orchard fruit and citrus oil. On the palate, it’s medium to full-bodied and charming but lively, with an elegantly textural attack, a fleshy core of fruit and lively balancing acids.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 90 RP(40% pinot meunier, 30% pinot noir and 30% chardonnay; L200352): Light, bright gold. Fresh red berries, orange zest and white flowers on the perfumed nose. Juicy and precise, offering energetic redcurrant and blood orange flavors that show good concentration and a supple texture. A mineral nuance adds bite to the finish, with the floral note echoing.Vinous Media | 90 VMThis producer’s nonvintage cuvée showcases a blend of grapes from all the regions of Champagne. Rich with white stone fruit, it balances ripe acidity and a taut texture. This complex wine is ready to drink.Wine Enthusiast | 90 WE

Bollinger’s NV Special Cuvée knocks it out of the park. Made from 60% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay and the rest Pinot Meunier, with 30% of the blend brought up in barrels, it boasts a rich, deep, medium to full-bodied style as well as terrific notes of lemon curd, crème brûlée, caramelized stone fruits, and hints of toasty nuttiness that develop with time in the glass. It’s a big, rich Champagne that stays balanced and pure. Beautiful stuff.Jeb Dunnuck | 93 JDRestrained and very pretty aromas include those of yeast, Meyer lemon, petrol and green apple where the latter element is picked up by the utterly delicious, vibrant and detailed flavors that possess fine complexity on the agreeably dry but not austere finish. The supporting mousse is dense but fine and overall, this is a wine that could be enjoyed now or held for up to a decade. Excellent. (Drink starting 2024)Burghound | 93 BHOne of Bollinger’s great assets is a massive stock of reserve wine, including 600,000 magnums held under cork. Gilles Descôtes tends those reserves, working with the blending team to subsume the variations of the current vintage into Bollinger’s Special Cuvée by using a majority of reserve wines in the blend. The result is a rich and harmonious Champagne with deep reserves of flavor. Its substantial, formal structure feels polished, its flavors balancing the cool earthiness of a limestone cave and the sunnier, bright floral notes of fresh cream. Built for food, whether emphasizing the freshness with lobster bisque, or the depth with beef Wellington and chanterelles.Terlato Wines Int’l., Lake Bluff, ILWine & Spirits | 93 W&S Like its rosé counterpart, the latest release of Bollinger’s NV Brut Special Cuvée is showing especially well, bursting from the glass with aromas of honeyed apples, crisp stone fruit, buttery pastry, ripe lemons and fresh walnuts. Medium to full-bodied, fleshy and vinous, with a deep core of beautifully ripe fruit, racy acids and a pillowy mousse, it’s a charming, characterful wine that proves that Special Cuvée is firmly back where it belongs.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92 RPThere’s a pleasing, snappy quality to the acidity framing this elegant Champagne, enlivening accessible flavors of currant, Marcona almond and orchard blossom, with a minerally touch of saline-laced oyster shell that lingers on the finish. Drink now through 2022. 11,000 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 92 WSLots of biscuit aromas and a wide spectrum of fresh-citrus, candied-citrus, red-apple and red-berry notes. Mouth-filling creaminess, plus quite an imposing presence and powerful structure for an NV Brut. Long, citrus and chalky finish that’s very clean and properly dry. 60% pinot noir, 30% chardonnay, 10% pinot meunier. Almost 20% barrel fermented and 62% reserve wines. Based on the 2017 vintage and disgorged July 2021. Drink now.James Suckling | 92 JSDominated, as always, by Pinot Noir and with wood fermentation and aging, this Champagne has a great poise between freshness and richness. It is intense and ripe, with apple and minerality coming together. The bottling is ready to drink.Wine Enthusiast | 92 WE (60% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay and 15% Pinot Meunier; 8 g/l dosage; L1403801): Pale yellow. Toasty aromas of apple and pear nectar are complemented by hints of toffee, honey and orange zest. Full and expansive on the palate, offering ripe orchard and pit fruit flavors and an undercurrent of smoky minerals and buttered toast. Smooth and gently spicy on the clinging, nicely focusd finish.Antonio Galloni | 91 AG(NV Bollinger “Special Cuvée” Brut NV (Aÿ)) The current release of Bollinger “Special Cuvée” is composed of its customary blend of sixty percent pinot noir, twenty-five percent chardonnay and fifteen percent pinot meunier. It was finished with a dosage of eight grams per liter and offers up is classic pinot-shaded bouquet of white peach, apple, bread dough, a beautiful base of soil tones, a touch of hazelnut and a smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and complex, with a fine core of fruit, a good spine of acidity, elegant mousse and a long, well-balanced and classy finish. This is still a young wine and I would tuck it away in the cellar for at least a few years and let its acids relax a bit and its secondary layers of complexity emerge. (Drink between 2020-2040).John Gilman | 91+ JGNotes of flowery beeswax, white fruit, and quince on the nose. The palate has a flinty austerity with Braeburn, white pepper and subtle spice followed by yeasty richness and brisk finish. Drinking Window 2020 - 2025.Decanter | 90 DEC

If it’s good enough for James Bond, it’s good enough for you. Bollinger Champagne has made a number of cameos in James Bond films over the year. This non-vintage Special Cuvée is an example of a classic Champagne done well. Notes of marzipan on the nose and the palate give toastiness and leesy notes, specifically sourdough. It’s classic for a reason and would only elevate any table it finds itself on.Decanter Magazine | 95 DECFine and seamless, with mouthwatering acidity well-meshed with a rich range of crème de cassis, poached apricot, gingerbread and almond extract flavors, plus accents of fleur de sel, Meyer lemon peel and star anise. Long and lively on the creamy finish. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier. Drink now through 2028. 14,257 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 93 WSThe NV Champagne Special Cuvée (60% Pinot Noir and based on the 2021 harvest) pours a bright yellow/silver hue on opening and reveals a fresh and actually more mineral-driven profile on the nose than I was expecting, revealing layers of fresh raspberries, brioche, wet stone, and orange blossoms. The palate is medium to full-bodied and classically rounded, as you would come to expect from this house, but it retains good tension and a silky, chalky texture, with an ultra-fine mousse, salinity in its notes of grapefruit zest and almond, and a creamy texture through the finish. It’s very well-styled and is going to drink well over the next 10 years. They always try to have 8-10 vintages the blend, the oldest being 18 years (15 years when it goes into the bottle). 8 grams per liter dosage.Jeb Dunnuck | 93+ JDRestrained and very pretty aromas include those of yeast, Meyer lemon, petrol and green apple where the latter element is picked up by the utterly delicious, vibrant and detailed flavors that possess fine complexity on the agreeably dry but not austere finish. The supporting mousse is dense but fine and overall, this is a wine that could be enjoyed now or held for up to a decade. Excellent.Burghound | 93 BHBollinger’s NV Special Cuvée 007 is not a re-release of the 1969, which James Bond famously mentions in the film ’Moonraker,’ but it is a pretty wine that captures the essence of the house style nicely, attractively packaged to coincide with the latest Bond movie. It offers up scents of orchard fruit, baked apple tart, brioche, spice and dried floral notes, all in a profile that holds plenty of near term appeal.James Suckling | 93 JSLike its rosé counterpart, the latest release of Bollinger’s NV Brut Special Cuvée is showing especially well, bursting from the glass with aromas of honeyed apples, crisp stone fruit, buttery pastry, ripe lemons and fresh walnuts. Medium to full-bodied, fleshy and vinous, with a deep core of beautifully ripe fruit, racy acids and a pillowy mousse, it’s a charming, characterful wine that proves that Special Cuvée is firmly back where it belongs.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92 RPThe new release of Bollinger’s “Cuvée Spéciale” non-vintage Brut is crafted from its customary cépages of sixty percent pinot noir, twenty-five percent chardonnay and fifteen percent pinot meunier, with thirty percent of the vins clairs fermented in casks for this bottling. As is typical for this bottling, it was aged thirty to thirty-six months sur lattes and the final blend includes fifty percent reserve wines. It offers up a refined bouquet of apple, peach, fresh-baked bread, chalky soil tones, gentle smokiness and a topnote of dried flowers. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied, focused and complex, with a lovely core of fruit, good mineral undertow, elegant mousse and a long, crisp and beautifully balanced finish. Fine juice that will age gracefully and be an even more interesting drink five to ten years down the road. (Drink between 2024 - 2045)John Gilman | 91+ JG

The NV Champagne Grand Cru Blanc De Blancs Substance is the only wine in the range from Selosse that is produced in a true solera system, with criadera, and this release has the addition of the 2016 vintage going into the cuvée. The nose offers fantastic layered depth framed by a minty freshness lifting from the glass, along with notes of fresh apricot, marzipan, citrus oils, and wet stones. The palate is textural with a core of rich sapidity and buoyant acidity that creates a weightless and impeccably balanced feel throughout. The mousse is fine, but the wine’s savory texture takes the lead. It’s going to drink well now or over the coming 20 years. Disgorged in February 2024.Jeb Dunnuck | 96 JD

The May 2017 disgorgement of Fallon’s NV Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Ozanne is showing brilliantly, wafting from the glass with aromas of citrus oil, crisp yellow orchard fruit, freshly baked bread, toasted nuts, candied peel and honeycomb. Full-bodied, vinous and concentrated, it’s layered and textural, with a bright spine of acidity, a pearly enlivening mousse and a long, intensely sapid finish. Its combination of power and tension makes this the finest wine I’ve tasted from Fallon to date. Of course, finding any of the thousand or so bottles released every year is next to impossible, but readers able to track one or two down are in for a treat.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95 RPThe NV Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Ozanne is laced with gorgeous scents of pastry, brioche, citrus, white flowers and yellow orchard fruit. Warm, oxidative tones add breadth and volume, but the wine remains weightless, impeccable and pure. The delineated, crystalline finish leaves a lasting impression. This is a super-impressive showing from a producer who appears to have a very bright future. Ozanne is the old, historical name by which Avize was known prior to 796. Disgorged May 25, 2012.Antonio Galloni | 93 AG