The house of Bollinger has introduced a quite unique vintage champagne. 2003 is the name. It is certainly the first time I have heard about a champagne of this type, even 2003 has been expected impatiently by several because of the special character of that particular year.
Usually vintage champagnes are made with grapes, that have been extraordinarily well dealt with by simply wonderful weather. In 2003 the weather on the other hand played just about all the dirty tricks at hand plus most possible encores: Frost in spring, hailstorms and the violent heatwave followed by a grape harvest in haste.
Bollinger too did not have enough grapes, so they may have chosen to make a virtue of necessity. Whatever.
The 2003-champagne is a blend of 60 percent Pinot Noir from the villages of Verzenay in Montagne de Reims and Aÿ in Vallée de la Marne and 40 percent Chardonnay from the village of Cuis in the Côte des Blancs (More at Bollinger (PDF-file.))
The website Enviedechamp sell the "2003" for a price of 70 euros, which is quite a step up from the - shall-we-call-it - normal Special Cuvée.
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