Curves and lines
Curved B, round O, straight L, upright I, curled G, cuboid E, arched R…
In its very name, Bollinger seems to combine the suppleness it displays on a day-to-day basis as it adapts to the changing moods of its vines, and the strictness which it insists on, year in year out, in the tireless pursuit of excellence Supple and strict, adaptable and inflexible...
Published March 19, 2013
the bottle labeller
Her gestures are smooth and accurate. With a firm yet delicate movement she glues the paper, takes hold of the bottle, and positions the label...
Pairing food and rosé
Some tips for successfully pairing fine food and rosé champagne. What should you serve with rosé champagne?
All present and correct
The machine is handsome, sparkling and brand new: with one swift, smooth and delicate movement it tips the bottle upside down, holding it up to a soft yet bright light so that its contents can be inspected. But its work ends there; at Bollinger’s this operation is not entrusted to a computer or photoelectric cell. Bottle inspection requires an expert. Only a shrewd, experienced and attentive human eye can examine the bottle and the champagne contained within to be absolutely certain that that the quality of the wine is in no way compromised.
Published on May 14, 2013
When the wine is drawn
After blending, and before it is at long last left to rest for a period of many months, and sometimes many years, the still wine has to go through a final stage in order to become effervescent. In Champagne, when wine is “drawn” it is not in order to be drunk, but to prepare it for its future as a champagne. Before being bottled, the seeds of a secondary fermentation are sown, so that it will at last begin to sparkle. This takes the form of a mixture perfected hundreds of years ago by the winemakers of Champagne: a little cane sugar and some carefully selected yeast are added to a sample of the wine to be “seeded” and left to spring into life. A perfect elixir is obtained, known as leaven, which is added to the blends. In just a few days the wine will no longer be still; it will start to form bubbles and become champagne.
This metamorphosis takes place in bottles in the cellars. A metal capsule fitted with a small receptacle called a "bidule” is used to stop up the bottles of Special Cuvée and Bollinger Rosé, and to withstand the mounting pressure of the effervescing wine.
Published on Mars 19, 2013
