Bollinger: Importance of disgorgement often underestimated in Champagne

Comparing disgorging a Champagne to a person going through a surgical procedure, Bollinger’s deputy cellar master stresses the importance of disgorgement on a Champagne’s aroma and taste profiles, leading him to conclude that “a wine starts a whole new life after disgorgement”.

Bollinger deputy cellar master Denis Bunner made the comments while hosting a masterclass in Hong Kong to launch the latest 2004 R.D.

Presenting a flight of two samples of the same 1996 R.D, with one disgorged roughly 6 months before the masterclass, and another 6 years ago in 2012, in a blind tasting, the recently disgorged wine showed more fruitiness and generosity of aromas, while the other had taken on more depth….