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99 Tb points
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News
The 1969 Bollinger Vieilles Vignes Françaises (V.V.F.) holds a unique place in Champagne history as a ghost vintage—because no official commercial release of V.V.F. existed in 1969.
The iconic Blanc de Noirs cuvée from ungrafted, pre-phylloxera Pinot Noir vines in Aÿ was not officially created until the 1969 harvest, when Madame Lily Bollinger was persuaded by her friend and wine writer Cyril Ray to bottle the fruit from these historic plot...
Wine Description
The Story
Destroyed at the dawn of the 20th century by the infamous phylloxera vastatrix, all the Champagne region’s vines had to be replanted with American rootstocks that were resistant to the destructive insect.
All of them? Not quite... In Aÿ, two Bollinger plots classified Grand cru, the “Chaudes Terres” and “Clos St Jacques”, were miraculously spared by the phylloxera. From these vines cultivated using traditional methods, planted “en foule” (w...
Wine Information
1969 Vieilles Vignes Francaises Champagne Bollinger
I have tasted this “living museum” champagne only once, when we had a vertical tasting of Vieilles Vignes Francaises. From those eight vintages – 1969, 1970, 1973, 1975, 1980, 1982, 1985 and 1988 – this 1969 was everything but “oldest museum wine” with exceptional freshness and charming sparkle, and it came in second position right after the great 1985. My mystified notes were then:
This ...
Vintage 1969
The 1969 Champagne harvest stands as an good, high-acid, and profoundly long-lived benchmark for vintage declarations across the Montagne de Reims, Côte des Blancs, and Vallée de la Marne. Following a cool, wet spring that severely restricted crop yields through coulure, the growing season was saved by an intensely hot, dry August and a sun-drenched, crisp September that pushed Chardonnay and Pinot Noir to high natural sugar levels while prese...
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Average Bottle Price
| Year | Price | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 4 530€ | +29.8% |
| 2020 | 3 490€ | +46.0% |
| 2015 | 2 390€ | - |
| 2026 | 2020 | 2015 |
|---|---|---|
| 4 530€ +29.8% | 3 490€ +46.0% | 2 390€ - |
This data comes from the FINE Auction Index, a composite of average prices for wines sold at commercial auctions in 20 countries. The average prices from each year have been collected since 1990. This chart plots the index value of the average price of the wines.