Champagne Bollinger - La Grande Année 2014 - Coffret bois

Bettane & Desseauve

About the domain :

A traditional Champagne house established in Aÿ since 1829, Bollinger remains at the very top of the Champagne world. Its 178-hectare vineyard of Grands Crus and Premier Crus accounts for 60% of its supply. The entire production of vintage wines is vinified in barrels, as is a small proportion of the house's multi-millennium brut, the Special Cuvée. The latter benefits from a high proportion of reserve wines kept in magnums, ensuring unrivalled precision in the blends. In recent years, the house has created some exciting new cuvées: a blanc de noir d'Aÿ from the Côte aux Enfants parcel, which also produces a superb coteau champenois. And pinot noir cuvées named after the dominant cru in the blend, which varies from year to year. All the house wines shine at the table.

Guide Hachette des vins

About the wine:

This prestige vintage cuvée is a blend of pinot noir (61%) and chardonnay, mainly from grands crus. After a long rest under cork, it takes on a golden color with fine lines of bubbles and displays complex aromas: empyreumatic woody notes, baker's oven, candied fruits, floral fragrances. The subtle woodiness and brioche nuances are confirmed on the intense, harmonious palate, which is round yet light.

About the domain :

Famous house founded in 1829 by Joseph Bollinger, a merchant originally from Württemberg. It has remained a family business, although since 2008 it has been chaired by a non-family member (Charles-Armand de Belenet since 2017). With a vineyard of 179 ha, predominantly Pinot Noir (60%), and a cooperage, the company is careful to maintain its style, based on skilful blending of wines vinified separately in oak barrels (reused to avoid a dominant woodiness) and small-capacity vats. Reserve wines are kept in magnums under "petite mousse". The wines are bottled under cork and aged for a long time on their lees. Having joined the company in 2003, Gilles Descôtes took over from six cellar managers in 2013.

Guide des Vins Gault & Millau

About the wine:

Chocolate, peach and cinnamon share the nose, which opens with light oxidative touches. On the palate, beneath the present bubbles, we discover a fleshy, full-bodied champagne, with a creamy texture supported by marked tension. Notes of yellow fruit and dried fruit brighten up the substance, before a finish of fine acidity.

Robert Parker - Wine Advocate

About the wine:

Offering complex aromas of crisp yellow fruits, candied citrus, frangipane, walnuts, dried white flowers and subtle hints of iodine, Bollinger's 2014 Brut La Grande Année is medium- to full-bodied, mellow and vinous, with an elegantly fleshy core of fruit underpinned by racy acids and complemented by a pretty, peaky mousse. Concluding on a long, chalky finish, this is a charming yet precise Grande Année, more generous and demonstrative than its immediate predecessor, the 2012, but achieving a very similar level of quality in a more challenging vintage - a testament to the serious viticulture that underpins Bollinger's contemporary excellence.

RVF - La Revue du Vin de France / Guide des Meilleurs Vins de France

About the wine:

We repeat our impressions of the Grande Année 2014. While it has benefited from an extra year in bottle, it lacks the dimension and above all the persistence of the best previous versions.

About the domain :

If ever there was a brand with a strong personality and a highly recognizable style, it's Bollinger. This family-run house from Aÿ produces wines dominated by Pinot Noir, vinous, deep and with a subtle patina. Bollinger's history is incredibly rich. A benchmark house, always taking the initiative. The quality of the older vintages bears witness to this commitment to excellence, handed down from generation to generation. The character and vinosity of these gourmet champagnes remain a benchmark.

Jancis Robinson

About the wine:

Intriguing nose with savory notes and a dry finish. Some oak influence is evident. Plenty to sink your teeth into. Still quite young.

James Suckling

About the wine:

Lots of pastry and bread dough aromas, with lemon and apple pie. Flint is also present. The palate is medium- to full-bodied, with a creamy texture and lovely elegance. It was a difficult vintage, but it came out well. Contrast. Crisp on the finish, even though the mid-palate is fruity. 61% pinot noir and 39% chardonnay. All barrel-fermented. Dosage 7 g/l. Drink now.

Jeb Dunnuck

About the wine:

Champagne La Grande Annee Brut 2014 is 61% pinot noir and the rest chardonnay, with a dosage of 7 grams per liter, and sees more fruit from Verzenay. I loved this wine last year, and it didn't disappoint on this tasting either. Perfumed, mineral notes of saline and custard rise from the glass, and the palate is medium to full-bodied, more concentrated and linear yet still quite powerful, with a saline minerality. I like the tension it brings, with long, persistent acidity, and it ages at a very slow pace.