Investment In Bollinger VVF: The World's Best And Most Rare Grande Marque Champagne

Bollinger's Masterpiece: The Single Vineyard Champagne Vieilles Vignes Francaises (VVF)

On this channel, it's not rare that you encounter praising superlatives about extraordinary wines. But given the character of the type of wines worked with here, appropriate superlatives suddenly seem insufficient. When it comes to the elite of the world's most distinguished and best wines, "superb" and "unique" just almost don't cut it.

This is one of those cases where we've received an extremely rare opportunity to offer one of the world's absolutely best and most exclusive Champagnes for investment in four different vintages – namely Bollinger's masterpiece Vieilles Vignes Francaises – or just VVF.

If you look through our archive here on the page, you'll discover that we've only once, in an investment tip from 2017, had the opportunity to offer VVF here, which just underscores how exceedingly rare it is that we can offer more than just a few bottles of these gems. But now is the time.

"There are always moments of total drinking magic when opening a new vintage of this world-famous wine"
– Richard Juhlin, Champagne Club

What Is Bollinger Vieilles Vignes Francaises?

Bollinger hardly needs a larger presentation and is, as one of the 24 "Grande Marques" (along with, for example, Krug, Pol Roger, Louis Roederer, etc.), one of the pillars of Champagne.

Bollinger VVF represents the pinnacle that Champagne Bollinger can achieve. VVF is produced 100% from pinot noir (thus a blanc de noir), which exclusively comes from ancient vines that miraculously survived the devastating phyllorexia plague that ravaged Champagne at the end of the 19th century.

The vines here thus represent an incredibly rare heritage of ungrafted vines, as Champagne once was. From just 0.3 hectares spread over two parcels, an average of just a couple of thousand numbered bottles per vintage are produced.

Bollinger's Vieilles Vignes Françaises is not just a Champagne; it is a symbol of history, rarity, and the relentless pursuit of excellence, appreciated by collectors and enthusiasts all over the globe.

Forget Salon, Forget Krug, Forget Selosse

There are countless parameters on which Champagnes can be compared. There are also a sea of boxes and categories they can be put into, which can make it hard to compare them with each other. But if we're simply talking quality (and hereby understood professional critic scores), there are a few Champagnes that any connoisseur pops up as some of the highest-scoring. Here it's naturally fitting to mention both Dom Pérignon and Cristal. But if we're going a class above, both Salon and Krug Vintage would be obvious choices with consistently high scores behind them.

But when we're dealing with Bollinger's VVF, even Selosse, Salon, and Krug Vintage must bow. Champagne guru Richard Juhlin is the only one who has tasted and reviewed all vintages of Bollinger VVF, hence his assessments provide the best perspective on VVF's overall greatness.

Across all 29 vintages of Bollinger VVF, Juhlin has on average given a whopping 97.3 points, which is considerably higher than both Salon and Krug Vintage have received:

Krug's single vineyard Champagne, Clos d’Ambonnay, is certainly not forgotten in this calculation. Krug Clos d’Ambonnay has just been released in six vintages, not scored in the same vintages as VVF, and also produced in more than double the quantity per vintage. This also underscores even more how unique Bollinger VVF is.

"VVF remains one of the most compelling wines - still or sparkling - in the world."
– Antonio Galloni, Vinous

Unique Champagne, Unique Opportunity For Investment In Several Vintages

Unique Champagne, Unique Opportunity For Investment In Several Vintages

Bollinger VVF is notoriously famous and infamous in the wine world for being extremely rare. Yet, we have managed to secure a small batch of different, new vintages that are extremely suitable for investment. These include:

2008 Bollinger VVF
Production: 3,180 numbered bottles
Scores: RJ: 99, WA: 100, VI: 98

2009 Bollinger VVF
Production: 2,484 numbered bottles
Scores: RJ: 98, WA: n/a, VI: 96+

2012 Bollinger VVF
Production: 2,193 numbered bottles
Scores: RJ: 99, WA: 98, VI: n/a

2013 Bollinger VVF
Production: 2,477 numbered bottles
Scores: RJ: 98, WA: 97, VI: 95

Great Returns on Bollinger VVF

Based on Bollinger's strong brand and VVF's sublime quality and rare character, it will probably not surprise that they have also historically been excellent investments.

According to Liv-ex, the last 10 vintages of VVF*, which have been on the market for at least five years, have on average yielded a return of 114.3% over the last five years. This corresponds to an average annual return of 16.5%.

*1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007

"Bollinger's 2008 Blanc de Noirs Vieilles Vignes Françaises is one of the monumental wines of this great vintage."
– The Wine Advocate

RareWine Invest’s Opinion

It is neither a slip of the tongue nor an exaggeration to claim that Bollinger's VVF is the world's best, most exclusive, and rarest Champagne. Sure, there can definitely be Champagnes that are better in some vintages and likewise some micro Champagne from an unknown house that may be produced in smaller quantities.

But here we are talking about a Champagne that, since the first vintage from 1969, has received extremely high points and has always been produced in extremely sparse quantities from the same two parcels. Add to this, that we're not dealing with some small niche producer only honored among the world's most elite Champagne connoisseurs. No, it's Bollinger – one of Champagne's Grande Marques with a huge brand recognition and a world-class distribution network.

You have here the opportunity to choose between four different new vintages, which is a rare luxury. Our recommendation, however, stands on Bollinger VVF in general and not on one vintage over another. Each vintage carries its own characteristics with associated prices that can be chosen according to pleasure and temperament. Common for them is that they represent what could very well be called the world's best, most exclusive, and rarest Champagne – and there's potential in that.