bollinger cellar, champagne library
Inside the new Bollinger library cellar.
(Image credit: Bollinger)

How a spot of spring cleaning led to a chance discovery and the creation of a new Champagne Bollinger cellar to show off the house's library of vintages.

  • Bollinger opens new library after chance discovery of 600 old and rare vintage Champagne
  • Event follows years of painstaking work to restore old bottles

When Bollinger staff cleaned out a gallery of its cellar under the house in Aÿ stacked with old, empty bottles, they made a remarkable discovery.

Hidden for decades, they unearthed an incredible collection of some 600 bottles, the youngest of which was found to be 1921 and the oldest, 1830.

Bollinger 19th century

19th century Bollinger Champagnes in the new library cellar. Photo
(Image credit: Bollinger)

‘The discovery of this cellar and the opportunity to restore our other stocks of old wines inspired us to create a new oenotheque,’ announced Jérôme Philipon, president of Bollinger.

Since the 1970s, the house has been slowly restoring its old bottles by disgorging, checking, topping up with the same wine and recorking. In an ultimate case of old meets new, the use of a laser ‘aphrometer’ has enabled the pressure inside a bottle to be measured without opening it.

Bollinger 1988, vintage champagne

Bollinger 1988 vintage is one of many lying in a new library cellar at the Champagne house. Photo
(Image credit: Bollinger)

This week the house opened the oenotheque and dubbed it Galerie 1829 in honour of the year the house was founded.

bollinger library cellar, champagne

Bollinger’s new library cellar. Photo
(Image credit: Bollinger)

This collection showcases 65 vintages, including the extensive red wine collection of the house predating 1952, Bollinger R.D. from 1952 and the Vieilles Vignes Francaises collection from 1969.

Simultaneously, a second cellar named La Réserve was unveiled to present highlights of Bollinger reserve magnums dating from 1892.

A representative selection of Galerie 1829 and La Réserve were opened for assembled media yesterday, showcasing vintages from each decade of the past century, most notably 1945, 1937, 1928 and 1914, culminating in 1830.

Bollinger 1914, vintage champagne

Bollinger 1914 vintage Champagne – famously harvested to the echo of shell bursts in World War One – lying in the house’s new library. Photo
(Image credit: Bollinger)

The remarkable integrity of these old wines was testimony not only to the endurance of the Bollinger style but to the keen diligence of the house in painstakingly restoring its old bottles. Alas, of 54 bottles of 1830 unearthed, only 13 were deemed drinkable.

Related content:

000009b88-Bollinger_GA_2005.jpg

(Image credit: Credit Unknown)

First Taste: Bollinger Grande Annee 2005

Newly launched Bollinger Grande Annee 2005 is ready to drink on release and offers a glimpse of how global warming

Bollinger RD 2002

Bollinger RD 2002
(Image credit: Credit Unknown)

Bollinger rides vintage Champagne wave with RD 2002 release

Bollinger is the latest house seeking to capitalise on strong consumer demand for vintage Champagne, releasing its RD 2002 and

CIVC Tasting

(Image credit: Credit Unknown)

Birthday Champagne: Eight wines to celebrate with

John Stimpfig chooses eight wines to seek out...

Champagne flutes

(Image credit: Credit Unknown)

Farewell to Champagne flutes?

Explore More
Tyson Stelzer
Tyson Stelzer
Decanter Magazine, Champagne Expert

Tyson Stelzer is an Australia-based Decanter contributor and Champagne expert, as well as an international speaker and presenter.

He has written numerous books about wine, including the Champagne Guide 2018-2019.

He won the Australian Communicator of the Year 2015 plus the International Wine & Spirit Communicator of the Year 2015 and International Champagne Writer of the Year 2011.