See score and full tasting note at champagneclub.com.

Disgorged 7 March 2011. Very hot summer with harvest starting on 10 Sep. Very good summer. Very ripe grapes gave the highest potential alcohols ever, producing wines people said would not last. 65% Pinot Noir with 60% grands crus and 70% from Bollinger's own vineyards. Yield 7,000 kg/ha. Very high initial alcohol 12.2%, 6.3 g/l total acid. Very deep slightly orangey gold. Brand new bottle! A little austere to begin with. Not the drama of the 1959 enjoyed in London but I'll wait and see how it develops. A little bit dour and angular when first opened but it developed beautifully in the glass. I took my freshly poured glass to the lunch table and enjoyed seeing it develop trademark Bollinger mushroomy notes. Broad in the beam – massive actually – and positively throat warming in its amplitude. (JR)