Bollinger was established in 1829 by Jacques Joseph Placide Bollinger and his partners Paul Renaudin and Count Athanase de Villermont. Later, Bollinger’s iconic leader was Madame Elisabeth Bollinger, known affectionately as ‘tante Lily’. One of Lily’s most famous statements about Bollinger is often quoted today, “I drink it when I’m happy and when I’m sad. Sometimes I drink it when I’m alone. When I have company I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I’m not hungry and I drink it when I am. Otherwise I never touch it, unless I’m thirsty.”

Bollinger is one of the few remaining independent family owned Champagne houses. It is a relatively small house but has worked over the years to acquire some of the finest vineyards, and now has about 165 hectares. The chalky soils found in the cooler northerly climate create a unique terroir for the 3 main grapes of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier.