NV Bollinger PN VZ 19

Pouring a pale silver/yellow color, the NV Champagne Pinot Noir TX20 is representative of the fruitiness of the vintage and the purity of the citrus, with notes of white grapefruit, hazelnut, and fresh bread dough. It's a fresh expression that doesn't get the toastiness you might expect, but has the fruitiness and a frothy, bubbly mousse. It will most likely benefit from another year. Based on 2020 for half the cuvée, the other half is reserve wine.

100% Pinot Noir sourced mainly from Tauxières on the Montagne de Reims, supplemented by wines from Aÿ and Avenay, based on the 2020 vintage with 52% reserve wines, both 2019 aged in vat and wines from 2008 and 2012 aged in magnum. The blend is the latest in Bollinger's generally excellent PN collection, each new cuvée designed to make terroir the star of the show. The 2020 growing season saw a mild, very rainy winter with unseasonably warm conditions which encouraged rapid vine growth. Flowering came early, followed by a hot, dry summer causing some sunburn. Picking started on 21 August but uneven grape ripening in September meant picking stopped and started. More than half the wine was fermented in Bollinger's favoured oak barrels. After 4 years' ageing on lees, the wine saw a dosage of 8 g/l. Creamy, 'settled' nose with a lemon-cream palate and no obvious oak. For a relatively young wine this has no gaucheness about it. No gawky teenager, this wine seems to have already settled into a rather superior career. No rough edges but perhaps a little zestier than the Bollinger average. Beautiful balance. (JR)

Named after the village of Tauxières, from which it takes its abbreviation, the new NV Blanc de Noirs PN TX20 contains 40% fruit sourced from Tauxières, and the remaining composition draws largely from Aÿ-Champagne and Avenay-Val-d'Or. This cuvée is based on the 2020 vintage (48%), complemented by reserve wines from 2019 (stored in tank) as well as 2012 and 2008 (both aged in magnums). Disgorged in February 2025 with a dosage of eight grams per liter, it bursts from the glass with expressive aromas of ripe pear, tangerine peel, clove and brioche. On the palate, it is medium- to full-bodied, broad and textural, with lively acidity and a generous core of fruit. The finish is expansive, though a subtle sweetness emerges, lending the impression of being one of the least dry expressions among the house’s Pinot Noir Champagnes. Vinified equally in stainless steel and oak barrels, approximately 80% of the fruit for this cuvée is sourced from Bollinger’s own vineyards.