Hors-Série 1971

A brilliant champagne, remembering that every bottle is fractionally different and that there are several threads of flavors that have emerged. One of these threads for me is most represented by a character I often see in old examples of Bollinger’s R.D., a lovely, truffly, mushroom note.

My bottle of the 1971 had nary a hint of this at all, yet others have seen this character. Boutillat also spoke of some bottles showing dry vegetal and dried flower notes. Again, not the slightest evidence of that in mine. Others have a citrusy focus.

You won’t quite know until you open it, but fear not: I have no doubt you’ll love what you discover.

Mine? A wonderfully enticing golden color. The nose was immediately gloriously complex with coffee bean notes. The wine is both fresh as the proverbial daisy and showing serious development. Great intensity with notes of spices, nougat, stone fruit, dried figs, and fresh ginger. Excellent focus and great length.

It did not take long but all of these different characters soon gave way to what proved the most dominant of all: a magnificent aroma/flavor most reminiscent of a freshly baked apple pie or a dish of rich, cinnamonny, stewed apples. Gorgeous. This character never left, and even when I finished the bottle the next day it was still to the fore!

This baked apple character is another of the threads that Boutillat has seen in the wines; he talks of “balance and harmony” and he is spot on. A hint of toast flickers through as well. It is exhibiting more freshness and balance to continue to age under cork for probably another 10, or even 20 years if you want, but there is simply no conceivable reason not to drink it today. 99/100.

Finally, the team at Piper-Heidsieck have put together a cracking playlist if you are in need of something to listen to while you enjoy your ’71. It comprises some of the best songs released in 1971, including John Lennon, Nina Simone (I know it is sacrilegious but I have always preferred her version of “My Way” to Frank Sinatra’s), Leonard Cohen, Aretha Franklin, Janis Joplin, Rodriguez, Pink Floyd, Curtis Mayfield, David Bowie, Tom Jones, George Harrison, and more. Everyone will have favorites that missed out (no “Mr Bojangles,” seriously?), but perhaps “Here Comes the Sun” (the Richie Havens version from 1971, not the earlier one by the Beatles) could have reflected vintage conditions and surely the number one song of the year, Three Dog Night’s “Joy to the World,” would have been the perfect accompaniment to such a stunning champagne.

First in the series of one-off cuvees, Hors-Serie 1971 is the joint accomplishment of three chefs de caves, Claude Demiere making it, Daniel Thibaut and Regis Camus deciding to keep significant amounts of it, and finally Emilien Boutillat disgorging and dosing it. A wine of this age has bottle variation, thus every one of the 2021 numbered bottles was tasted and individually approved. Still, each of them is individual. We tasted two bottles, which according to Emilien represent the two extremes of the Hors-Serie 1971 galaxy. One of them was so surprisingly youthful and fresh coming with impressive toasty, ginger and ground coffee complexity. It still had plenty of even fresh fruit to it with lemon highlighted on the zingy back palate. Really elegant and seamless, taking brilliantly time in glass. The other bottle showed much more maturity, with charred and spicy elements dominating over dried fruit, orange confit, black tea and almond notes. Winey yet briskly acidic with the wine’s no-malo character singing loud. 94 points for the first bottle, 90 for the second.