Bollinger Special Cuvée

Special Cuvée is Bollinger's NV, and the wine the maison wants to be judged by. The blend is roughly 60% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay and 15% Meunier, sourced mostly from grand and premier cru villages with a substantial proportion of estate fruit.

A defining feature is the use of reserve wines aged in small oak barrels rather than steel — a Bollinger signature carried over from the maison's nineteenth-century cellar habits. The wine then spends around three years on lees, far longer than the AOC minimum, and is dosed in the brut range.