Bollinger
La Grande Année 2015
A golden robe with yellow highlights, that of an already mature wine, beneath a fine, unhurried bead. The nose opens with stone fruit — russet apple, plum, honey — then gives way to blackberry, blackcurrant, cherry and raspberry, along with almond, mango and vanilla imparted by eight years in barrel…
THE CUVÉES OF MAISON BOLLINGERThe expert verdict
The structure of this champagne
TASTING NOTES
A golden robe with yellow highlights, that of an already mature wine, beneath a fine, unhurried bead. The nose opens with stone fruit — russet apple, plum, honey — then gives way to blackberry, blackcurrant, cherry and raspberry, along with almond, mango and vanilla imparted by eight years in barrel and on lees. The palate is generous, almost fleshy, with mirabelle plum jam; the structure remains straight, carried by the acidity that 2015 managed to preserve despite a hot summer. The finish returns to chocolate, citrus zest and a mineral touch of cold stone. Serve between 8 and 10°C, in large glasses: it can be enjoyed today and will continue to age beautifully in the cellar for many years to come.
The composition
Terroirs
Eleven crus make up this vintage. Pinot noir, 60% of the blend, comes from Verzenay, Aÿ and Mareuil-sur-Aÿ; chardonnay, 40%, from Chouilly and Avize. This is an unusually high proportion of chardonnay for Bollinger, which typically builds its vintages around 70% pinot noir: 2015 produced grapes of such genuine ripeness that they needed to be balanced. The year itself: regular rainfall in early summer, followed by a hot, dry August and September, then a cooling at harvest time, which began on 4 September with small berries showing high acidity. The entire cuvée ferments in small oak barrels — Bollinger is the only Champagne house to still employ an in-house cooper, who repairs more than three hundred barrels a year. The wine takes its mousse under natural cork and rests for more than eight years on lees, more than double what the appellation requires; riddling and disgorgement are done entirely by hand. Dosage 8 g/L, 12.5% vol.
About this house
Founded in Aÿ in 1829, Bollinger is one of the last great Champagne houses to have remained family-owned and independent. Its style owes less to any stated philosophy than to a handful of obstinacies that the region has almost entirely abandoned: fermentation in small oak barrels, reserve wines kept in magnums under cork, an in-house cooperage workshop, hand riddling for the great cuvées. None of this is convenient; yet it is precisely what gives its champagnes that wine-like richness recognisable even blind.
La Grande Année does not appear every year. The house only declares it when the ripeness and acidity of a given year meet at the point it judges exact, and it then gives it everything it knows how to do: the barrel for every vat, the cork for the second fermentation, the hand for riddling and disgorgement. The 2015 is its most recent demonstration, with a higher proportion of chardonnay than usual.
The perfect pairing
Aperitif
Eight years on lees have given the 2015 notes of toasted almond and toasted bread: these meet the parmesan in the shortbread, which the bubbles immediately cleanse.
Starter
The house itself recommends mushroom for this cuvée: the oak character from the barrel and the ripe fruit of the pinot noir marry the umami of the ravioli without overpowering it.
Main course
A champagne with 60% pinot noir, barrel-fermented and this wine-like, can stand up to red meat: the porcini bridges the wine's forest-floor notes, while the vintage's freshness cuts through the jus.
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