This is the third release in Bollinger’s series of limited editions focussing on particular Champagne villages and vintages.
It was in July 2020 that Bollinger debuted a new permanent addition to its portfolio that represented a new idea: it was to be a wine made purely from Pinot Noir, focussed on one particular village and vintage. The initial release was based mainly on the 2015 vintage and the grand cru village of Verzenay and it was called PN VZ15. This was followed last year by PN VZ16 – again from Verzenay. This year’s release is called PN TX17 and mainly based on the 2017 vintage and fruit from Tauxières, a premier cru village in the Montagne de Reims.
“Tauxières is a terroir we do not talk about much,” said deputy cellar master Denis Bunner, “but this is a chance for you to discover. 2017 is the base harvest of this wine, it was very hot, but Tauxières is a late cru, it is harvested last, even after Verzenay, that is why Tauxières progressively with climate change benefits from warmer temperature.”
“Pinot Noir is a key pillar of the Bollinger style,” Bunner said, “and we wanted to show the different facets of Pinot Noir.“ He noted that the house always stated that a large percentage of its cuvées was made from Pinot Noir – “but which Pinot Noir? With these cuvées we show you that there are many different Pinot Noirs. The goal is to make a collection of Pinot Noir coming from main villages.” A tasting of still Pinot Noir base wines from the 2021 vintage showed the distinct characters of these villages: tenderness and tension for Tauxières; concentration and power for Aÿ; elegance and unusual harmony for Verzenay.
PN TX17 is made from 100% Pinot Noir, with 51% of the fruit sourced from Tauxières, but Pinot Noirs from Aÿ, Verzenay and Avenay were also used. 50% of the wine is from the 2017 vintage, the other 50% are reserve wines from 2016, 2009 and 2006. 22% of the wine was aged in magnum: Bollinger ages some of its reserve wines in magnum under cork which then go through a second fermentation that gives just a little mousse and pressure. These are then disgorged in order to form part of Champagne blends to lend extra creaminess and resonance, a very labour-intensive and time-consuming process. 50% of the base wine was fermented in oak, the other half in stainless steel. PN TX17 was disgorged in January 2022 with a dosage of 4g/l. Like the two previous releases, this wine comes with inherent energy that lends a real sense of joy. The limited release retails at £85 through specialist merchants.
