Champagne Bollinger, PN VZ19, Brut

The potential alcohol content was record high from the start, especially in Aÿ, with 11.1% straight away. Denis, just like me, sees great similarities between 2015 and 2019, but where the sharpness and freshness is better in 2019. It is not the acidity, but rather the mineral salt that gives the freshness together with the sense of umami the concentrated grapes give. Here, there is a swirl of exotic fruit and honey and a dry smokiness that I’ve learned to associate with the cluster of aromas that transforms over time into the note of railway on a hot summer’s day. It might sound fuzzy, but it makes perfect sense.

The combination of heated rail, dry gravel, dandelions and nettles that thrive in the embankment gives a concentrated, warm dryness strongly reminiscent of the character the grapes acquire when the temperature crosses the vine’s pain point on a few hot summer days. 41 degrees in the shade was a heat record in Champagne, especially a lot of shade, which the vineyards in Champagne cannot boast of, so the effect is reminiscent of that which arose in 1947, 1959, 1976, and 2003. Hence, this aroma was less marked in 2019. Let’s see if I’m right in 10 years when I expect “The Famous Note of Railroad Track” to appear in this beauty.

Richard Juhlin, The Champagne Club (June 2024)