Wine Advisor
Bollinger, La Grande Annee Brut 1996
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Description
La Grande Annee by Champagne Bollinger is an exceptional, timeless champagne. Crafted with artisanal savoir-faire, it undergoes vinification in oak barrels, lending complex aromas and remarkable aging potential. The 2014 vintage, an assembly of 19 crus (61% Pinot Noir from Aÿ and Verzenay, 39% Chardonnay from Chouilly and Oiry), reveals golden glints and a precise, fruity nose. On the palate, fine effervescence, vinosity, delicate acidity, and sea-air finish create excellent length.
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Kristaps Karklins
From magnum, Bollinger's 1996 La Grande Année is showing superbly, offering aromas of candied orange, peach and iodine mingled with rye bread, praline and roasted cacao bean. On the palate, it is medium- to full-bodied, with taut musculature and the cool profile typical of the vintage, laden with incisive acidity and framed by considerable structuring dry extract, leading into a precise, chalky finish. Complemented by a pinpoint mousse, it shows greater freshness in magnum than in the standard bottle format and still has many years ahead of it. Stylistically, it is unmistakably 1996, but given the house’s decision to harvest late in this high-acid vintage, it is more harmonious than many other examples from the year. Disgorged around 2002, it carries a dosage of seven grams per liter.
About the Producer
Established in the commune of Aÿ-Champagne in 1829, the House of Bollinger is home to an impressive legacy of winemaking excellence, achieved through the polished precision of a finely tuned timepiece. Today, the Bollinger Champagne House reigns over 440 acres dedicated to the vine in the Champagne region of northern France, of which an impressive 85% is classified Grand Cru or Premier Cru. The vineyards are spread out over 7 main communes. Pinot Noir is planted in Ay (the headquarters of the House), as well as Avenay, Verzenay, Louvois and Tauxieres. Meanwhile, the House’s Chardonnay comes from Cuis, while Pinot Meunier is planted in Champvoisy. A complex and powerful grape, Pinot Noir represents 60% of the total plantings, which corresponds to the exact proportion of this grape variety in the blend of the House’s signature Special Cuvee. The two crown gems of the House are its twin plots, the Clos Saint-Jacques and Chaudes Terres, where ungrafted pre-phylloxera vines are tended to by hand, their fruit used to produce the very exclusive and rare Bollinger Vieilles Vignes Francaises cuvee.
