Jacques Bollinger, a gentleman at the helm of Bollinger

Standing tall in his boots, looking straight into the camera, this is the picture that best captures Jacques Bollinger, sometime between 1914 and 1918. A classy aviator, leaning against his biplane. The son of Georges Bollinger – and grandson of the cofounder Joseph-Jacob- Placide Bollinger –, he was just twenty when he joined up at the beginning of the “Great War”, making the first of many impressive decisions in opting to defend his country.After being demobbed in 1919, Jacques Bollinger was rewarded with the Legion of Honour and a Croix de Guerre, then succeeded to the helm of the firm after the death of his father in 1918. And then the uniform gave way to smart suits.

Jacques Bollinger therefore found himself at the helm of Champagne Bollinger in 1920, a serious responsibility at the age of 24. He rose to the challenge with courage, with the valuable support of his cousins Pierre and Yves Moret de Rocheprise. After all, the strength of Champagne Bollinger also lies in family bonds... Elegant and cultured, speaking English with ease, Jacques strengthened the presence of Bollinger in the United Kingdom.

During his years at the helm of Champagne Bollinger, he was also committed to developing the vineyards, with a particular ambition to gradually recover a plot that would become iconic to Bollinger: La Côte aux Enfants.

He sagely guided the Champagne house through the difficulties of the economic crisis and the Second World War. He went on to become the mayor of his village, Aÿ, which he strove to protect. He passed away in 1941 leaving his wife, Elisabeth Law de Lauriston-Boubers, whom he married in November 1923, at the helm of the house. She took over without hesitation and became a grande dame of Champagne to all.