La Côte aux Enfants, Ay, Blanc de Noirs, 2013
Incredibly rich red berry fruit - cherry, raspberry and wild strawberry. Bruised apple, orange blossom and some tropical mango and papaya notes. Brambles, lemon thyme and lashings of vanilla and cream. A delicate persistent umami backbone exhibits sea salt, oyster shell, limestone and proving bread dough. This showcases such impressive weight and intensity beautifully overlaid by acidity, tension and freshness.
critic reviews
While one might have expected the cool, northwest-facing part of this famed Ay vineyard to produce a rather unyielding wine in a vintage like this, Bollinger's brilliant 2013 Brut Blanc de Noirs La Cote Aux Enfants is actually easier to understand than the rather more reserved inaugural 2012 release. Unwinding in the glass with aromas of smoky orchard fruit, crisp peach, beeswax, mocha, warm spices and toasted nuts, it's full-bodied, taut and chiseled, with a deep and concentrated core of fruit, a beautifully refined pinpoint mousse and a long, electric finish. All the energy and cut that one could wish for is combined with the house's trademark vinous, complex style to deliver a wine of real character and elan.