Vieilles Vignes Françaises
The taste and soul of eternal Champagne
Vieilles Vignes Françaises: preserving a gem
“Those who have the privilege to taste Vieilles Vignes Françaises rediscover the flavour of the first champagnes. It is an authentic taste that Bollinger has enhanced since 1969, the first vintage of this cuvée.”
Charles-Armand de Belenet, Managing Director of Champagne Bollinger
The taste of tradition
Beyond their excellent fruit, the Vieilles Vignes Françaises represent a duty of remembrance. Everything is done in the purest tradition of the Champagne region. The land is worked by hand with the help of a draught horse. The vines are planted using the en foule layering method known as provignage. This technique, which has disappeared entirely from modern viticulture, is used to multiply a vine by burying shoots, thereby preserving the characteristics of the vine.
Historic parcels
In the late 19th century, Champagne’s vine-growing terroir was marked for life. An aphid, almost invisible to the naked eye, decimated nearly all the vines in Champagne, forcing growers to implement a radical technique: systematically pulling up infected plants and using American rootstock Nearly all? Historically, 3 parcels resisted the invasion of the parasite. Today, just 2 parcels are spared.
Vinified exclusively in old oak barrels.
Great wines are made in barrels. It's an adage the House has never forgotten. A Champagne tradition since Champagne Bollinger remains one of the last houses to still vinify its great wines in barrels. Yet its contribution is essential, since micro-oxygenation gives the wine extraordinary ageing potential.
Riddled and disgorged exclusively by hand
The people of Champagne have long sought the best way to clarify wine by removing the deposit that forms over the years. To do this, they invented the very unique method of riddling: gently and gradually moving the bottle to progressively remove the sediment and very, very slowly guide it into the neck of the bottle. The cellars of Champagne Bollinger are home to row upon row of wooden stands.
A rare and complex wine
The result is a complex, powerful vintage wine that is as exceptional as it is extremely rare. A Blanc de Noirs aged in the cellar for at least five years. But Vieilles Vignes Françaises are not only remarkable for their flavours: they are the memory of heritage, a symbol bearing an almost-forgotten memory of the Champagne of yesteryear.
