Bollinger, one of the last independent family-owned Champagne houses, has just acquired 14 hectares of vineyards in the United States!
The history of Bollinger champagne maker is marked by the strength of family ties and a passion: that of making quality wine according to ancestral methods. Founded in 1829 by Athanase de Villermont, a daring aristocrat, Jacques Joseph Bollinger (future son-in-law) and Paul Renaudin, two expert wine merchants, Bollinger today represents one of the last family-owned and independent Champagne houses. Throughout its history, several members of the founding families have succeeded each other at the head of the House. Among them, Elisabeth Bollinger, widow of Jacques Bollinger, is certainly the one who has had the greatest impact on the recent history of the company, which she managed between 1941 and 1971. As a true guardian of the ancestral values passed on to her by her late husband, Madame Jacques, as she was known, was able to make the most of the know-how developed by the family over the previous century while judiciously innovating. She is behind the mythical Bollinger R.D. cuvées—a true revolution in champagne with the creation of great old champagnes to be aged—that is to say an exceptional vintage aged on lees for many years (4 times longer) and then disgorged by hand. With a long term vision, she has also made sure to develop several generations of competent and passionate successors that she has selected from the different branches of the Bollinger family and those of her family of origin. They have made the house flourish according to the vision of their illustrious ancestors while ensuring growth according to the realities of the current market. Over the past 50 years, Bollinger has adopted a strategy of diversifying its wine products through the acquisition of several vineyards, including the Loire House Langlois-Château in 1973, the Burgundy House Chanson Père & Fils in 1999, and the Champagne House Ayala in 2005. Recently, Société Jacques Bollinger (SJB), now headed by Etienne Bizot (6th generation), made its first acquisition outside of France with the purchase of the family-owned Ponzi Vineyards in Oregon, USA. The Bollinger family thus joined the Ponzi family in adding 14 American hectares to its 178 hectares of vineyards in France.
Read the news: ‘Bollinger Champagne Owners Buy Oregon’s Ponzi Vineyards’
