Bollinger La Grande Annee Vintage Champagne, 2014

Only the very best Grand and Premier Cru grapes are chosen to make the Bollinger Grande Année, which is the ultimate expression of the house style. The 2014 vintage is a blend of 61% Pinot Noir and 39% Chardonnay from 21 Crus including Aÿ and Verzenay (Pinot Noir) as well as Chouilly and Oiry (Chardonnay), creating a rich and full champagne with aromas of apricot, toasted almond, biscuit and honey.

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. Drink 2024-2044. 98/100 points. Antonio Galloni (Vinous)

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. Drink 2021-2045. 95/100 points. William Kelley (Wine Advocate)