NV Bollinger PN VZ 15

New fixed launches of wines in Bollingers range are as rare as solar eclipses and it is of course with high expectations that I want to get to know this new wine half vinified on oak barrels. The wines name is ’PN’ and will follow in many different editions in the future. The presentation is brilliant and for the thoughts of the houses legendary blanc de noirs Bollinger ’Vieilles Vignes Françaises’. The first edition has the surname ’VZ 15’. A Verzenay blanc de noirs with sprinkles of Aÿ, Bouzy and Tauxières where 50% of the wine comes from 2015 with reserve wines on magnum down to 2009. Verzenay and Aÿ are, as you know, the dominant villages in Bollingers vintage wines. Verzenay is often the chalky and mineral-rich backbone of Bollingers vintage build-up. The wine is vibrantly fresh, mineral-driven and extremely pure. Here is a clarity and sharpness that is outstanding where gunpowder notes and aroma of grilled meat develops as the glass warms up slightly. Maybe a bit naked and with a large portion of unresolved fruit. Still, I love this wine as it is a perfect creation from one of the most important villages in the whole of Champagne dominated by the aforementioned minerality, but also with notes of violet and red grapefruit so typical of Verzenay of the highest class. The scent gets more and more notes of pears, figs and freshly baked baguette on aeration and the taste develops towards peach and apricot jam. Personally, though, I will wait as long as I can before opening my own bottles to get the increasing depth of caramel and grilled hazelnut flavor that only time in the cellar can provide.