The 4-hectare plot on the northwest slope of the Aÿ vineyard delivers the grapes for the 2013 vintage of Bollinger, La Côte aux Enfants, a Grand Cru Champagne made exclusively from the Pinot Noir grape variety. Beneath these vines lies a very thin layer of topsoil, beneath which extends a chalk layer approximately 100 meters deep, from which the wine derives its mineral character.
The year 2013 began with a rainy spring, followed by a hot summer that saw Champagne record the highest solar radiation levels in history. The harvest did not begin until October. Here, the late harvest in a year blessed with sunshine manifests as fully ripe fruit that retains a solid structure.
In 2012, Bollinger bottled the grapes from this plot for the first time as a single-varietal wine, Champagne, so 2013 marks only the beginning of that history. Aging in the cellar takes place behind natural corks for twice as long as required by the appellation's regulations.
It will be at its best between 2025 and 2040, its is recommended serving it in a wide-bowled glass.
Robert Parker (97)
While one might have expected the cool, northwest-facing part of this famed Aÿ vineyard to produce a rather unyielding wine in a vintage like this, Bollinger's brilliant 2013 Brut Blanc de Noirs La Côte Aux Enfants is actually easier to understand than the rather more reserved inaugural 2012 release. Unwinding in the glass with aromas of smoky orchard fruit, crisp peach, beeswax, mocha, warm spices and toasted nuts, it's full-bodied, taut and chiseled, with a deep and concentrated core of fruit, a beautifully refined pinpoint mousse and a long, electric finish. All the energy and cut that one could wish for is combined with the house's trademark vinous, complex style to deliver a wine of real character and élan.
James Suckling (99)
Complex aromas of pie crust, iron, chalk and hints of sweet strawberries. Some ginseng. Full-bodied with very fine bubbles that give it tension and focus. Extremely fine and polished tannins that go on and on. Dried lemons and oranges. Chalk at the end. Hints of bitterness in the finish with subtle botanicals. Made from a single vineyard monopole of pure pinot noir.
Jancis Robinson (16.5)
All Pinot Noir from a special plot in the middle of a slope with very little topsoil over 100 m of chalk. Fruit from the south-facing part has long been used for still wine and fruit from here was a regular ingredient in the house's non-vintage blend but in 2012 they started to make this single-vineyard champagne, too, as part of their drive to make more terroir-driven champagne. It was aged for seven years on lees.
Very vibrant, lifted and fresh but quite evolved nose though the palate is still extremely tight, as so often for 2013s. There's a light flavour of macaroons but for the moment, while the finish is bone dry in Bollinger style, it's not that persistent. I'd love to taste this again in a year or two. The acidity dominates for now. (JR)
