Enhance your Champagne Bollinger experience
Each bottle of Champagne Bollinger transforms every moment of the tasting experience into a sensory journey.
Our wines are the fruit of a tireless quest for perfection, a delicate harmony between the art of the winemaking process and bold innovation. The following recommendations will enable you to have the best possible tasting experience and will help bring the richness and unique character of our Champagnes to life.
Storage
Maintaining optimal storage conditions ensures the incomparable quality of Bollinger’s champagnes long before they are opened.
STORE YOUR BOTTLES
Bottles can be stored upright or on their side so the champagne retains its bubbles for longer.
TEMPERATURE AND MINIMISING TEMPERATURE VARIATION
To keep your bottles in the best possible condition we recommend maintaining a consistent temperature between 10 and 15°C, comparable to the conditions in Maison Bollinger’s cellars. However, be sure to avoid sudden variations which can shock the champagne and affect its development.
LIGHT
Bottles should not be exposed to light, especially UV rays, which can cause a very unpleasant sensory fault which alters the odour and colour of your champagne. If artificial light is required where you store your wines, you can use amber LED bulbs falling at 590nm on the light spectrum, which is less harmful to champagne.
Pressure
Champagne bottles have high internal pressure and must be stored in stable environments without excessive vibrations to preserve the wine’s quality and bubbles.
HUMIDITY
Constant, high levels of humidity, at around 60 to 80%, prevent the cork from drying out and supports a steady ageing process.
DEVELOPMENT AND AGEING
Bollinger’s non-vintage champagnes reach their optimum condition a few years after they leave our cellars, whereas the aromas and complexity of our vintage wines will continue to develop for many years following release thanks to their outstanding ability to age.
Service
The service of Bollinger’s champagnes requires care and attention to ensure each and every glass can showcase its unique character.
IDEAL SERVICE TEMPERATURE
To fully showcase the aromas of our cuvées without them being masked by the cold, serve at 10°C for a non-vintage Champagne (Special cuvée or Bollinger Rosé) and 12°C for a Vintage Champagne.
To get your champagne to the right temperature, put it in an ice bucket which has been half filled with ice and water 30 minutes before service. 24 hours before tasting, you can also put your bottles in a wine cellar cooled to 11°C.
However, we do not advise putting your bottle in a freezer as champagne begins to degrade at temperatures below -4°C.
CHOICE OF GLASSWARE
Ideally choose a tulip glass or normal white wine glass with a tall silhouette and a slightly narrower rim, which will help control the release of wine’s bubbles and concentrate aromas in the neck of the glass.
Avoid liquid detergents when cleaning your glasses, as residue left on the glass can make it difficult to see the wine’s bubbles. Simply rinse with hot water and dry with a cloth to remove any limescale.
OPENING
Sabrage - as spectacular as it may be – should never be used as a means of opening one of our champagnes. Carefully remove the foil and wire cage, holding the cork tightly to prevent it from flying out before you are ready. Then, keeping a firm hold on the cork and taking care to point the head of the bottle away from anyone, turn the bottle slowly to release the pressure without losing any precious bubbles.
You can then taste your champagne in the best possible condition in a tulip or white wine glass, never straight from the bottle.
RECYCLING INFORMATION
You can recycle all of the materials you have removed from the bottle (i.e. the foil and wire cage). If you are a UK resident, your cork can go into your compost bin.
THE ART OF SERVICE
Champagne should be poured slowly and smoothly down into the glass, at an even pace. You can pour the wine in two stages, making sure each glass is two thirds full. We also advise against holding your guest’s glass while you pour.
PRESERVING YOUR CHAMPAGNE AFTER IT HAS BEEN OPENED
If you need to preserve your champagne after it has been opened, we strongly recommend using a hermetically sealed stopper that has been specifically designed for champagne bottles. It is also imperative that you store your wine in a refrigerated environment, which will preserve your wine for up to 48 hours after openining.
Product consumption conditions
RESPONSIBLE DRINKING
Champagne Bollinger encourages you to savour every moment you are enjoying their champagnes and advocates for the responsible, moderate consumption you associate with celebrations and happy moments with friends and family. We strongly discourage pregnant women from drinking our champagnes, due to the known risks around consumption of alcohol during pregnancy. Similarly, champagne, like all other alcoholic beverages, is strictly prohibited for all those under 18 years of age (in France), or before the minimum legal age for consuming and/or purchasing alcohol in accordance with the legislation in force in your country of residence.
ALLERGENS
Our Champagnes contain sulphites, which can be an intolerance for some, taste with caution.
Sulphites have antiseptic properties which play an important role in controlling undesirable indigenous yeast populations during the production of our Champagnes. Sulphites can also act as an antioxidant, helping to preserve the physio-chemical and sensory characteristics of the wine throughout the winemaking process.