Champagne Bollinger
La Côte aux Enfants 2014
Coteaux Champenois
A stunning and extremely rare, still red wine produced only for the greatest vintages. This wine harmoniously combines 100% Pinot Noir Grand Cru fruit from an exceptional vineyard with traditional Burgundian style winemaking. Historically, Pinot Noirs from Aÿ were the most popular wines of the French court, specifically a favorite of King Henri IV, and La Côte aux Enfants comes from a steep plot just outside of the village. This wine is the purest expression of Pinot Noir, offering a fine, delicate texture in the mouth, and a tautness giving it a beautifully long finish.
VINEYARD
This exquisite wine is 100% Pinot Noir Grand Cru from Aÿ. Beginning in the early 20th century, Bollinger started to acquire more than 50 differently owned plots and now owns all four hectares of this legendary vineyard. Since 2009, all vines grown there are farmed organically.
WINEMAKING
La Côte aux Enfants harmoniously combines Grand Cru fruit from an exceptional vineyard with traditional Burgundian style winemaking for a pure expression of Pinot Noir. Before bottling, the wine is aged 8 months in small oak barrels.
VINTAGE
The 2014 vintage of this single vineyard expression shows great aging potential. A dry September protected the crop from a cooler, wet August. The harvest yielded fruit with rich, concentrated flavors and structure.
TASTING NOTE
The distinctive terroir characteristics are clearly present and its bouquet of bright fruit is complemented by spicy, woody notes. The fruitiness bursts forth, giving way to a rich mouth feel with a beautiful tannic structure and a tautness giving it a beautifully long finish with a final note of cherry and kirsch.
FOOD PAIRING
This wine is surprisingly concentrated and powerful. It will go particularly well with veal, beef filet and red wine sauce, or even a rich duck.
Color
Red
Grape Varieties
Pinot Noir
Appellation
Coteaux Champenois
Farming
Since 2009, all vines grown on this vineyard plot are organically farmed.
Alcohol
12%
Suggested Retail Price
$155
Reviews
"Burgundian spice and dried flower aromatics"
Jeb Dunnuck - March 27, 2020 "All Pinot Noir and bottled as a dry, still wine, the 2014 La Cote Aux Enfants comes from a steep single vineyard just outside of the village of Aÿ and spent eight months in small barrels before bottling. Offering a stunning bouquet of ripe cherry and strawberry fruits, it has classic Burgundian spice and dried flower aromatics, medium-bodied richness, moderate tannins, and a rounded, supple texture that offers nicely integrated acidity. It picks up more sappy, floral notes with time in the glass and is just an ethereal, elegant, complex Coteaux Champenois that will benefit from a year or two of bottle age and keep for a decade."
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Trade Materials
Other Wines by this Producer
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Established by Jacques Bollinger between 1926 and 1934, La Côte aux Enfants is a steep hillside vineyard located on the outskirts of Aÿ. This unique parcel has been a source of endless fascination, producing some of the most highly prized Pinot Noir in the region. Aware of its potential, it became Champagne Bollinger’s ambition to produce a great vintage Champagne exclusively from this vineyard, with 100% Pinot Noir. The fruit comes from the north-west side of the hill, revealing a particularly refined expression of La Côte aux Enfants vineyard.
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