1979 Bollinger R.D. Extra Brut

From a bottle disgorged in 2016, the 1979 Extra-Brut R. D. is the fruit of an early October harvest, and it contains the highest percentage of Pinot Noir ever recorded for this cuvée to date. Offering up complex aromas of grilled peaches, walnuts, coffee, orange oil, saffron and toast, it's medium to full-bodied, deep and layered, with a vinous mid-palate, ripe but racy acids and a beautifully refined mousse, concluding with a telltale bone-dry finish. Elegantly muscular and intensely sapid, the 1979 R. D. exemplifies the greatness of mature Bollinger.

Deep gold, with a lustre and a pleasing effervescence. The aromatics recall pralines, figs, dried apricots and sour honey, and summer flowers too. The palate does not disappoint; au contraire, despite the unprecedented proportion of Pinot Noir, itself lending an almost gamey feel, there is also a purity, a deft stone fruit character, which in turn surprises and then beguiles as the wine weaves its way across the tongue. After all these years the wine still, somewhat impudently, flirts with perfection. Disgorged: 1990. Dosage: 4-5g/L.

Served blind at the launch dinner for Bollinger RD 2008; 1979 was chef de cave Denis Bunner's birth year. It was based on grapes with only 9.2% potential alcohol (much lower than nowadays). TA 9 g/l. Deep gold and very dry. Yeasty nose with a note of mint toffees. Pungent. Long with some richness on the palate before the very dry finish. Very Bolly!