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Bought directly from Bollinger through their UK agent Mentzendorff, this is currently held in bond at London City Bond Eton Park, where it is cellared in ideal conditions and for same day deliveries small quantities are held in our London offices in a top of the range Eurocave
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Description & Technical Information
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Champagne Bollinger owns an impressive 178 hectares of vineyards, of which 85% are in Grand Cru and Premier Cru villages. Their land is spread over seven main villages: Aÿ, Avenay, Louvois, Tauxières and Verzenay planted with Pinot Noir; Cuis with Chardonnay; and Champvoisy with Meunier. Bollinger are one of the few Houses to produce the majority of their own grapes for their blends. Pinot Noir represents 60% of the House's vineyards and defines the House style: complex and powerful with remarkable structure. In 2012 Champagne Bollinger was certified High Environment Value (HEV) this certification rewards a number of environmental procedures implemented at the Maison.
In 1976, Bollinger Vintage was re-named Grande Année. Then in 1997, it became La Grande Année - 'The Great Year' - a name simple enough to illustrate its exceptional status, because only truly extraordinary years become vintage at Bollinger. This vintage is entirely fermented in oak barrels and is produced from fourteen crus: 91% Grand Cru and 9% Premier Cru. 2008 is the first vintage of La Grande Année to be bottled in the new '1846' bottle which is to replicate a small magnum. This bottle has been completely redesigned, inspired by a 19th-century bottle discovered in the Bollinger cellars which dates back to 1846. The idea in using the curved shape of the bottle is to aim for the perfect balance of a “small magnum” with a narrower neck and a wider base, to very slightly slow down the oxygen exchange and therefore give a better quality wine with longer ageing potential.
Vinification takes place exclusively in small old oak barrels (20 years old on average), maintained in Bollinger’s cooperage, of which there are almost 3,500. Riddling and disgorging are performed entirely by hand, and take place after ageing on the lees in bottles with natural corks.
Weather: 2014 was characterised by mild temperatures and frequent rainfall and a few weeks of high temperatures, a very solid vintage with good ripeness and acidity. Flowering began in June and summer was a combination of dry, wet and cold spells. Some regions saw some disease and Meunier in the Marne Valley didn’t have a great year and some of the Pinot Noir with its thinner skin made it more difficult for the red grapes. Harvest took place from 8th to 20th September. A year where it was necessary to select the red grapes carefully to maintain high quality. In general Chardonnay is the star of the vintage.
Technical Information:
Vineyards: 91% Grand Cru, 9% Premier Cru | Pinot Noir: Aÿ, Verzenay | Chardonnay: Avize, Cramant, Oger
Grape Varieties: 61% Pinot Noir, 39% Chardonnay
Lees Ageing: 6.5 years
Disgorged: July 2021
Dosage: 8 g/l
Drink: Now to 2030
Tasting Note: Tinted with golden glints. A precise and fruity nose with a slight scent of sea-air. Aromas of cherry and lemon mingle with quince and bergamot. Then notes of hazelnut and almond, peach and mirabelle plum complete this wine’s range of aromas. On the palate, The initial sensation is a fine and intense effervescence, followed by a wonderful vinosity, and then balanced with delicate acidity. Its very fine texture and sea-air finish bring excellent length on the palate, accompanied by a delicate minerality and the complex flavours of orchard fruit and citrus.
Champagne Bollinger Overview
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Champagne Bollinger have been creating prestigious champagnes with character, distinguished by their elegance and complexity, since 1829. The story began when the son of a noble family, Athanase de Villermont, inherited an extensive estate in the Aÿ region. Foreseeing the extraordinary potential of the wines of Champagne, he founded the firm Renaudin-Bollinger & Cie upon meeting Joseph Bollinger, a widely travelled German and Paul Renaudin, a local man fascinated by the world of wine. Nearly two hundred years later, Bollinger are one of the biggest names in the region and are famously the preferred champagne brand of fictional British Secret Service agent, James Bond.
The House owns an impressive 178 hectares of vineyards, of which 85% are Grand Cru and Premier Cru vines. Their land is spread over seven main vineyards: Aÿ, Avenay, Louvois, Tauxières and Verzenay planted with Pinot Noir; Cuis with Chardonnay; and Champvoisy with Meunier. Bollinger are one of the few Houses to produce the majority of their own grapes for their blends. Pinot Noir represents 60% of the House's vineyards and defines the House style: complex and powerful with remarkable structure. In 2012 it was certified HIGH ENVIRONMENTAL VALUE (HEV) this certification rewards a number of environmental procedures implemented at the Champagne Bollinger vineyard, such as the large-scale reduction in the use of vine protection products, the implementation of organic pesticide treatments across the entire vineyard, energy recovery from pruning waste, the application of experimental organic farming on a section of the vineyard, and the numerous other actions carried out to protect biodiversity and embellish the vineyard.
Cellar Master: Denis Bunner
Winery Location: Aÿ | Champagne, France
Champagne Region: Vallée de la Marne
Annual Production (bottles): 2,500,000
“An intriguing combination of a sunny year’s forward fruitiness and late September harvest’s freshness. These characters get further amplified by the high percentage of Chardonnay and important share of cooler profile Verzenay Pinot Noir in the blend. On the nose ripe peach, candied apple and vanilla blend in beautifully with delicate floral and lemony notes as well as mineral iodine whiffs. The gentle oaky note stylishly stays in the background. There is supple volume on the lacey-textured palate, but this wine plays much less on concentration and weight than what we are used to with La Grande Année. Instead its finest feature is the salivating acidity and sensation of minerality that carries the wine until the long, palate-cleansing finish. Already open and pleasurable on the nose, but the palate stands firm with mineral restraint promising longevity. Perfectly dosed at 8g/l. Note for a bottle disgorged in April 2021.”
98/100
Antonio Galloni
“The 2014 La Grande Année is stunning. In fact, it is one of the best recent editions I can remember tasting. What comes through most is the wine’s sizzling energy and tension, qualities that aren’t often associated with Bollinger, where the Champagnes tend to show more breadth and volume. In 2014, readers will find a Grande Année built on linear intensity and drive. The 2014 is a blend taken from 19 villages, 61% Pinot Noir and 39% Chardonnay instead of the more typical 70/30 mix. For the second time in two decades (the first was 2007), Verzenay takes the lead in the Pinots over Aÿ, more or less an inverse from the norm. Verzenay, a north-facing village in the Montagne de Reims that saw less rain than Aÿ and most of the Vallée de la Marne, yields Pinots of energy more than volume. That, married with Chardonnays mostly from the Côtes des Blancs (predominantly Chouilly, Vertus, Oiry and Cramant), results in a truly magical Grande Année that will delight Champagne fans for several decades. I can’t recommend the 2014 highly enough. It’s a total knock-out. Disgorged: April, 2021. Dosage: 8 grams per liter.
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95/100
William Kelley
“Offering up complex aromas of crisp yellow orchard fruit, confit citrus, frangipane, walnuts, dried white flowers and subtle hints of iodine, Bollinger's 2014 Brut La Grande Année is medium to full-bodied, pillowy and vinous, with an elegantly fleshy core of fruit that's underpinned by racy acids and complemented by a pretty pinpoint mousse. Concluding with a long, chalky finish, this is a charming but precise Grande Année that's more giving and demonstrative than its immediate predecessor, the 2012, but which attains a very similar level of quality in a more challenging vintage—testimony to the serious viticulture that underpins Bollinger's contemporary excellence.”
94 → 96/100
Richard Juhlin
“I belong to the group of people that believes that Bollinger above all shows its greatness in lighter and more elegant vintages as the inherent Pinot-driven masculine power they possess is always sufficient. In the grand generous vintages, one must fight hard to hold back the rumbling force and maintain freshness and sublime details. 2014 is a textbook example in the lighter category. Many champagnes from 2014 are simply too light, vague, and floral in nature, but this does not apply in any way to Bollinger La Grande Année. Here, they have beautifully navigated their way between the grains of the vintage and instead focused on its merits. The champagne is thus clearer and more elegant with a higher proportion of Chardonnay from Chouilly and Oiry than usual to include and embrace the citrusy and floral sides. The extremely intense aroma is otherwise dominated by a marked air of sea breezes, sea urchins, oyster shells, iodine and gunpowder smoke originating from Verzenay. There is also a light note of hazelnut and leather from Aÿ. The combination of these pillars and all complementary villages also gives a delicate fruit with hints of orange citrus, peach, and Mirabelle plum. The aromas come again in the fine and medium-bodied taste with an added note of the finest vanilla and fresh cep in olive oil. Overall, this is an extremely beautiful and complex Bollinger on the finer and more elegant half of the whole. I love how you find new little details in a harmonious simplicity with each new sip. Fascinating and beautiful already, grand as R.D. in 10 years or more and without a doubt one of the vintage's rare hits.”
Today on The Friday Bubble Essi Avellan and Nick Baker discuss Bollinger's latest release La Grande Année Rose 2014 & comparing to the previously released LGA 2014.
Today on The Friday Bubble, Essi Avellan MW and Nick Baker, Founder of The Finest Bubble introduce Champagne Bollinger’s new release, the 3rd interpretation of the PN series, TX17.
Today sees the next edition in this new line-up. PN VZ16 is the second interpretation in a new series that will be released every year, always with a focus on one of Bollinger’s Pinot Noir crus.
In celebration of over 40 years of partnership as the Official Champagne of 007 and the upcoming film No Time To Die, Champagne Bollinger has produced a limited edition gift box that brings together three icons: Bollinger’s signature Special Cuvée, the Aston Martin DB5 and James Bond.
How Bollinger’s new PN VZ 15 is a glorious deep-dive into terroir - Written by Anne Krebiehl MW for The-Buyer.Net
The new Bollinger PN VZ 15 releases on 21st July 2020
During a visit to the house of Bollinger in Aÿ last year, we explored champagnes from some of the region's hottest ever vintages, dating as far back as 1947. We also held a mini-vertical of Special Cuvée base vintages, tasted a trio of R.D.s and had a look at the new Coteaux Champenois.
Shortly after the 2018 harvest, Bollinger Chef de Cave Gilles Descôtes declared that "2017 was the worst harvest of my life and 2018 is the best". We visited the house in Aÿ to taste the base wines and also tasted some of the rarer grape varieties, such as Arbane, Petit Meslier and Pinot Gris.
On Wednesday 6th March 2019, we’ll be going LIVE on Instagram TV with Bollinger winemaker Karl Reuter, who'll be guiding us through a tasting of six Bollinger champagnes and answering questions put to him by the live audience.
Although Chef de Cave Gilles Descôtes described 2017 as "the worst since 1893", Bollinger continued to innovate. We tasted the results of some exciting trials they are conducting with the rarer grape varieties Arbane, Petit Meslier and Pinot Gris.
It's not often that we taste Champagne that belongs in a museum. Our visit to Bollinger with Jancis Robinson MW included a tour of the newly renovated cellars and a tasting of Champagne produced during WWI.
The difficult 2016 vintage appears to have been kind to Champagne Bollinger. We tasted the Vins Clairs at the winery in Aÿ last month and the house are optimsitic - even drawing likeness to the magnificent 1988 vintage! We judged for ourselves...
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