Complex aromas of pie crust, iron, chalk and hints of sweet strawberries. Some ginseng. Full-bodied with very fine bubbles that give it tension and focus. Extremely fine and polished tannins that go on and on. Dried lemons and oranges. Chalk at the end. Hints of bitterness in the finish with subtle botanicals. Made from a single vineyard monopole of pure pinot noir. Drink now.
A vinous version, with subtle, savory hints of grilled herbs and tar on the nose, revealing a minerally underpinning to the palate's flavors of black currant, bread dough, saffron, crystallized honey and nuts as they ride the fine, raw silk–like mousse. Focused and powerful, sculpted and well-integrated, with firm acidity. Superlong finish. Disgorged March 2022. Best from 2025 through 2043. 40 cases imported.
One of the greatest hits from this vineyard, Bollinger’s 2013 Blanc de Noirs La Côte aux Enfants has evolved beautifully, embodying everything that made the long, slow-ripening season so compelling. Harvested on October 5 from the vineyard’s cool, northwest-facing slope, the fruit attained 10.4% potential alcohol. Disgorged in March 2022 with a dosage of four grams per liter, it unfurls from the glass with a deep bouquet of pear, wildflower honey and white peach, mingling with spice and bread dough. On the palate, it is medium- to full-bodied, tensile and racy, with a pure, chalky core that marries Bollinger’s characteristic Pinot Noir power with incisive acidity and underlying tension. Chiseled and mineral, it presents a stylistic counterpoint to the flavorful 2015—another highlight of this vertical—and, like its younger sibling, is well worth seeking out.
The 2013 La Côte aux Enfants is a rich, heady Champagne. Passion fruit, candied apricot, white flowers, vanillin, spice and tangerine oil all race across the palate. Deep and layered, with notable complexity, the 2013 is decidedly racy. Interestingly, the 2013 is much more expressive than the 2012 was at this stage. The 2013 was picked at 11.12% potential alcohol. Dosage is 4 grams per liter. In just its second release, the La Côte aux Enfants seems headed in a very positive direction.
This is remarkably complete and seamless for a single-vineyard Champagne, with a fragrance sat between raspberry pie, roasted plum and fresh blackberries, tart but ripe. The richness of lees ageing and the subtle openness of old oak barrel fermentation have brought honey and brown bread richness into the fold, which holds some force and breadth up front before tapering into a beautifully strict, persistent close full of chalky presence, salty pastry and liquorice. A super fine and rare blanc de noirs from the cool 2013 season.
The second-ever release for this cuvée, and coming from the monopole of four hectares, with half growing on the northern slope, the 2013 Champagne Blanc de Noirs La Cote Aux Enfants Brut pours a bright straw hue and is all about elegance, although it retains a pure core of fruit, with notes of raspberry, and has a fine mineral texture. This very well might prove to have even more potential, but it needs time to reveal itself. It certainly has the structure to be a significantly age-worthy wine over the coming decades. Drink 2025-2045. Dosage was 4 grams per liter. Disgorgement March 2022.
Winery Notes
The distinctive terroir characteristics are clearly present and its bouquet of spicy fruits with intense aromas of elderflower, black cherry and blueberry. The fruitiness bursts forth, giving way to a rich mouth feel with liquorice and black fruit flavors, rounded out by a great tannic structure.