418. Champagne Bollinger, 2003 by Bollinger, 2003

£45; 12%

We kicked-off the Optimor team dining event at Malte’s (pairs cooked each of 4 courses, and supplied wine to match). This is an absolute marketeer’s triumph. The packaging is awesome – really distinctive, and probably the best thing about this wine. It isn’t Bollinger (which is why they released it as a one-off, due to the hot summer fucking everything up), but it’s still nice enough, if a little flat. Not brilliant VFM, but fun. Had the second bottle a few months later, and we noted an almost fino sherry-like note on both nose and palate. The relatively low acidity is notable too. Packaging’s still excellent…