Bollinger - Brut Champagne Special Cuvée NV

The Bollinger style is always rich, food friendly and impressive. This wine is all of those things, with power and intensity of flavor along with ripe fruit, a layer of toastiness and a dry aftertaste. This is a style of wine that can take even more bottle aging. Imported by Paterno Wines International.

Here the expressive nose is extremely yeasty and deeply pitched with delicious, vibrant, and crisp middle weight flavors that are precise and clean on the long finish. This is a beautiful and relatively robust effort and I like the way everything is delivered with grace and authority with a firm but not aggressive backbone of acidity. This should be high on the list for those who enjoy cellaring NV examples as it will easily support 10 to 15 years of aging but can also be enjoyed now. A very solid effort at this level.

Deep aromas of ginger, toffee, butter and nutskin; reminded me of maturing white Burgundy. Full-bodied and intense, with flavors of toasted bread, spiced apple, baked pear and nutskin. Sappy, deep and strong in extract; this has impressive palate presence. Finishes with excellent subtle persistence. A particularly harmonious bottle of Bollenger, and a perfect dinner-table Champagne. 91 pts. $45. 11/02.