Bollinger "La Grande Annee" Brut Champagne 2014
(Champagne, France) - [VM 98] [JD 97, #1 of '22] [WE 97, #5 of '22] [WS 97] [DM 96] [WA 95]

About this wine:
Since 1829, Bollinger has been producing great Champagnes with a powerful, sophisticated and complex style.  In 2006, the prestigious French wine magazine La Revue du Vin de France surveyed the most significant group of sommeliers and wine writers to help select the top 50 Champagne Houses. This would be regarded as the flag-bearer for the greatness of Champagne as a unique wine region. Bollinger was selected as the Number #1 House by this group. 

With 399 acres of vineyards situated in the best Grands Crus and Premiers Crus villages, Bollinger relies on its own estate for nearly two-thirds of its grape requirements, including the Pinot Noir that gives its Champagne its distinctive roundness and elegance.

Notes from the Winemaker:

To the eye: Tinted with golden glints that reflect the wine’s maturity and Bollinger vinification techniques. 

To the nose: 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.  This wine unfurls gradually, revealing its full potential and intensity.

Blend of the 2014 vintage:

61% Pinot Noir, 39% Chardonnay.

19 crus : Mainly Aÿ and Verzenay for the Pinot Noir, Chouilly and Oiry for the Chardonnay.

At Bollinger, only very high quality harvests become a vintage: the 2014 vintage gave rise to a wine that is simultaneously structured, rich and complex, in terms of both its minerality and exceptional intensity.

Dosage
Moderate, 8 grams per liter.

Ratings & Reviews

98 Points - Vinous Media:
"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." - Antonio Galloni (Mar 2022)

97 Points, #1 Top 100 Wines of 2022 - Jeb Dunnuck:
"Raised entirely in barrel, the 2014 Champagne La Grande Année Brut is all about finesse and capturing the cool, mineral tension and floral notes of the vintage. Enhancing those qualities, a bit higher proportion of Chardonnay was used for this release, making up 39% of the blend. It pours a pale straw, and it is layered and persistent with lightly toasted pastry, Mirabel plum liqueur, and saline. The palate is dry and more tightly wound at this stage, with driving citrus, a chalky texture, and a light phenolic finish. Subtle undercurrents of honey and butterscotch should continue to evolve beautifully over the coming decades." -AF

97 Points, #5 Cellar Selections Top 100 of 2022 - Wine Enthusiast:
"With the hallmark Bollinger richness that is derived from fermentation in wood and a high percentage of Pinot Noir in the blend, this grand wine is ripe, full of apple and spice flavors. It is drinkable now, but still young. Keep until 2024." ROGER VOSS

97 Points - Wine Spectator:
"Racy acidity drives this mouthwatering Champagne, enlivening the rich panoply of flavors. Features a fine and creamy mousse that's still a lively springboard for aromas and flavors of crème de cassis, glazed tangerine, roasted hazelnut, ground coffee, pickled ginger and white blossoms. Long and satiny, with minerally salt and chalk notes gaining momentum on the lasting finish. Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Disgorged July 2021." *Highly Recommended* - AN (6/2022)

96 Points - Decanter Magazine:
"Grande Année manages to be both deeply resonant and surprisingly subtle in 2014 – a delicious conundrum. Beneath fragrant blackberry and roasted plum fruit sits the richness of chestnut honey, rye bread and cocoa. There’s zesty brightness and roasted orchard fruit, perfectly integrated and composed, shaped with precision and energy. One of the top 2014s. Six and a half years on lees."

95 Points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate:
"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." - William Kelley (Mar 2022)