🍾 Bollinger PN AYC21

Bollinger PN AYC21 is a non-vintage white Champagne in the Brut style from the house Bollinger in Aÿ (Marne).

Bollinger PN is the house's cuvée made only from Pinot Noir; according to the house, each new edition is built around a principal cru and a base year, and the house released the first one in 2020. The principal cru is Aÿ and the base year 2021; according to the house, the wine is cellar aged twice as long as the appellation requires, and the dosage is 8 g/l.

The house Bollinger is based in Aÿ (Marne); it was founded in 1829 and, according to the house, is family-owned and focused on Pinot Noir.

The boundaries of the Champagne area were set by a law of 6 May 1919: parts of the Marne, Aube, Aisne, Haute-Marne and Seine-et-Marne departments. The designation’s specification allows seven grape varieties, dominated by Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier; grapes are picked as whole bunches, that is by hand, and the yield is limited to 10,400 kg per hectare.

According to the Comité Champagne, Champagne is served chilled to 8–10 °C, and bottles are kept in the dark at a steady 10–15 °C, without vibration. An opened bottle is best closed with a sparkling-wine stopper and kept cold.

It is sold under the protected designation of origin Champagne: the bubbles come only from a second fermentation in the bottle, and the wine is aged for at least 15 months before sale (36 for vintage). Brut on the label is an EU sugar term: less than 12 g of sugar per litre.

Why it matters to you. No year on the label means it is not a vintage wine: the house may blend wines from different harvests. Blanc de noirs on the label means a white wine made from black grapes. The WHO reminds: there is no safe level of alcohol.