Bollinger’s “PN” series makes more and more sense as it continues, and today we have its sixth iteration: PN TX20 (PN - Pinot Noir, TX – Tauxières, the main fruit source, 20: the base vintage). We tasted the wine yesterday alongside PN VZ19 and PN AYC18; the wines clearly share a Bollinger and a Pinot DNA, though they are all quite different, and all rather impressive.
PN TX 20 is made up of 48% 2020 vintage and, notably, just under half of the reserve wines used are from the 2008 and 2012 vintage (aged in magnums), with the balance being 2019. This is quite the blend: 2008 & 2012 are undeniably great vintages, 2019 looks to have the potential to be the same, with 2020 running them all close. The style is immediate and fresh, with a latent complexity that emerges on the second or third taste.
Next to the distinctly rich PN AYC18 and the muscular PN VZ19, PN TX20 stands out as likely the wine that we would most like to drink today with the other two in the cellar, though it will repay further bottle age. The reserve wines from magnum clearly have an influence (and Bollinger have revised their whole vinification and ageing program for Special Cuvée to accommodate the continuation of the PN series): this is a wine that seems to serve up youth and maturity at the same time.
Critical appraise is positive. Richard Juhlin describes it as an “exciting and explosive edition of PN”, notably continuing “drink this beauty after 2030 for its full potential”. Antonio Galloni writes: “The NV PN-TX20 is a powerful, tightly wound wine. All the drive of Pinot comes through in this decidedly virile Champagne.”
The wine is currently lying with Bollinger and will ship to the UK this autumn.
The NV PN-TX20 is a powerful, tightly wound wine. All the drive of Pinot comes through in this decidedly virile Champagne. As with all the wines in this new series from Bollinger, the NV PN-TX20 is built around a base wine, in this case 2020 Pinot Noir from Tauxières, with 50% reserve wines, half of them from Bollinger's extensive library of reserve wines aged in magnum. This is an especially vinous Champagne, one that needs at least a year or two in bottle to unwind. The year was characterized by a relatively short cycle of just 87 days from flowering to a harvest that began on August 25. Dosage is 8 grams per liter. Disgorged: January, 2025. Drink 2027-2037.
For this exciting and explosive edition of PN, Bollinger once again chose fine, but unknown Tauxières as the starting point and dominant together with a smaller part of Aÿ and Avenay. 2020 is the base vintage with 48% of the cuvée. 52% reserve wines from magnum and steel tank with 2008 and 2012 as the oldest components to 25% of the whole. And finally a moderate dosage of 8 grams. Beautiful light golden color and an explosive and intense, now characteristic aroma of the reserve wines on magnum. So a kind of Bollinger without barrels in just that part. The barrel notes are clearer in the mouth where the nuts appear together with a small whisper of the forest. Otherwise, I mostly find apricot jam and white peaches in the fruity part together with geranium and a very flinty mineral finish. Never miss the chance to buy a few bottles of each new edition of PN as they are always among the most affordable you can buy in all of Champagne and drink this beauty after 2030 for its full potential.
With the sixth edition of its PN series Bollinger is back to Tauxières as the core village (38%), complemented by Aÿ and Avenay. In a sunny and dry year, this terroir thrives, and Bollinger has 18 hectares here in one huge block. The wines of the year get complimented by 52% of reserve wines of three amazing harvest years: 2019, 2012 and 2008. Add on it Bollinger’s ever-improving viticultural work, we have a wine that is precise and deliciously on the fruit. Soft apple and sweet apricot nose with pastry complexity, fruit candies and peach compote. The oaky notions stay beautifully in the background, On the palate the oak has helped in taming the phenolics of the dry, solar year. Supple with a degree of vinosity, the mature reserve wines add texture to the mid palate. On the lighter and fresher side for cuvée PN, this is a charming edition with its deliciously fruity and saline length, enhanced by its 8g/l dosage.
Framed around the 2020 vintage, the latest release in Bollinger’s PN series is generous, opulent and an immediately appealing, exotic Champagne. Straw coloured with a very vibrant, fine mousse. Full on the nose with intense Pinot aromas of red fruits, especially strawberry & plum. There is the floral perfume of roses too backed with some flinty smokiness. With very ripe stone fruits, the nose exudes the luxuriance of a warm and intense vintage. On the palate, it is immediately fat, rich, creamy & smooth with a gorgeous velvety texture. Plenty of peach, apricot, pear and even mango. This is a full-bodied wine – so forward it’s immediately ready and absolutely delicious to drink now. But there’s plenty of structure and complexity here and it will certainly continue to develop going forward if you can bear to wait. A hint of spice and black pepper gives a lift to the long and enduring finish.
