The limited release of a cuvée called B13 is a mission statement dressed up as a delicious, vivid wine.
While bushfires, flash floods, frost and freak weather events have become the new norm in wine regions everywhere, the climatic shift has long been apparent in Champagne, a region that defines itself almost more than any other via its climate.
One notable change is the frequency with which houses can and have declared vintages. Another is how environmental awareness is becoming ever more central in the marketing messages. Eco-credentials are now as important as the quality of the wine itself. Many houses have changed their farming approach and are at pains to communicate this.
Champagne Bollinger have created a stir with limited releases – like their PN VZ releases from the 2015 and 2016 vintages – and now they are using a wine from the tricky 2013 vintage to make another statement: “It is thanks to the ethical farming practices that Bollinger employs in the vineyard that the Champagne house constantly benefits from undeniably high-quality grapes, no matter how difficult certain years can be,” Charles-Armand de Belenet, managing director of Champagne Bollinger, said.
The 2013 vintage started with “a long winter punctuated by snow and frost, a wet and hesitant spring, then a very hot summer with violent thunderstorms. Despite these turbulent circumstances, Champagne Bollinger shaped the wine from this particularly late harvest into a vintage, and by doing so, also made a limited edition: B13 which stands for Bollinger 2013.”
The wine was made from 100% estate-grown Pinot Noir grapes sourced from just five parcels in grands and premiers crus vineyards and spent seven years on lees. It was disgorged with a dosage of 6g/l. It comes in a fully recyclable box made from recycled materials.
