Bollinger La Grande Année

Disgorged in July 2019, Bollinger's 2012 Brut La Grande Année is showing well, offering up an incipiently complex bouquet of crisp yellow orchard fruit, fresh peach, orange oil, toasted walnuts and dried apricot that's still quite reserved with less than a year on cork. Full-bodied, deep and muscular, the 2012 is blockier and broader-shouldered than its 2008 predecessor, with a weightier and even more concentrated palate built around a bright spine of acidity, concluding with a chalky finish that carries appreciably dry extract. This isn't quite as elegant as the exquisite 2008, but it is a superb effort and obviously built to age.

Quite wild on the nose – almost like biodynamic fruit character! Really mouth-filling with savour (oak-derived?) notes and even a hint of yeast. Very distinctive. Much denser than most champagnes and probably best with food but it’s certainly very successful in the Bollinger idiom. I must look up who was the chef de cave in 2012…

This makes a bold statement. Ripe, powerful and creamy with concentrated red-berry, nectarine, grapefruit and cashew aromas. I love the juiciness and brightness of this wine, which has such a long, graceful finish. Only 65% pinot noir, but it tastes like a lot more. 100% barrel fermentation and maturation. Drink or hold.