2012 Bollinger "La Grande Année" Brut Champagne
97WS
96JD
96W&S
96WE
95JS
95RP
94VN
93BH
93DC
93JG
$199.99
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97
Wine Spectator
Reviewed December 2020This goes from zero to 60 right out of the gate, with an intense spine of acidity driving tightly meshed flavors of crushed black currant, ground coffee, candied grapefruit peel and toasted almond. The profile expands on the palate, carried by the fine, raw silk–like mousse. Richly aromatic and expressive from start to lasting, spiced finish. *Ranked #10 Top 100 Wines of 2020, Highly Recommended* (AN)
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Professional Reviews
96
Jeb Dunnuck
While the 2012 La Grande Année doesn't match the magical 2008, it's not far off and has a similar purity and elegance. Beautiful notes of white flowers, white grapefruit, salty minerality, sliced apple, and hazelnut nuances all emerge on the nose, and this beauty hits the palate with medium-bodied richness, plenty of mid-palate concentration, bright yet integrated acidity, and a beautiful finish. This gains depth and richness with time in the glass but really needs 2-4 years of bottle age and should easily evolve for 20+ years in cold cellars.
96
Wine & Spirits
A selection of pinot noir from Aÿ and Verzenay (65 percent of the blend) with chardonnay from Le Mesnil-sur-Oger and Oiry, this wine ferments and ages in oak barrels and large casks, followed by extended aging on the lees in bottle. There’s an immediacy to its bubbles, and a scent that is immediately awesome—lemon blossom, lemon verbena and something exotic, like Buddha’s hand. The flavors are classical, expanding outward as the wine develops with air, potent, salty and long. Once it’s gone, you can smell the ghost of oak in the empty glass, even if it wasn’t overt in the wine. This is a structured and long-lived 2012.
96
Wine Enthusiast
Still young for a wine of this caliber, this rich Champagne has an immense future ahead
of it. The freshness of the wine will mature into the rich toastiness that is such a hallmark of this brand. Oak fermentation and aging have added to the great promise of this fine wine. *Top 100 Cellar Selections 2020* (RV)
Staff Reviews
GW
Cinnamon had made a beautiful appetizer of smoked salmon with crème fraiche for our Valentine’s Day aperitif, and we cracked open this 2012 to go with it. This Champagne had lovely, subtle pie crust and meyer lemon curd on the nose and in the mouth. The power of the Grand Cru Ay Pinot Noir was here for sure, with lots of the dark cherry fruit and vivid, crisp, chalky cut. As always, the barrel work is deft here, and I could not taste the oak at all, but rather just the fine toast from the long ageing on the lees. The finish is the most impressive thing about this wine now, with the creaminess of the top-quality Chardonnay only coming to the front after swallowing the wine. This is long finishing stuff, with plenty of richness.
AH
Aaron Hughes
Aaron Hughes
Wow, this was one heck of a treat. This was absolutely gorgeous out of the gate with a floral and citrus-y nose that enticed me in from the start. The palate was full of ripe and crisp apples and that delightful brioche-y quality with a finish that had just the softest hint of grapefruit zest and pith. I'm excited to see how this Champagne ages, and is an easy recommendation on a great Champagne to stock up on to lay down.
Notes
La Grande Année is always entirely estate grown from Grand and Premier cru sites and entirely barrel fermented. It is also aged on the lees on cork rather than crown cap for a minimum of six years every time. The 2012 is composed of 2/3 Pinot Noir; mainly from Aÿ and Verzenay grand cru and 1/3 of Chardonnay; mainly from Mesnil and Oiry Grand Cru. They used slightly more Chardonnay than usual, but this in no way detracts from chalky, black cherry Äy soul of the Champagne. (Gary Westby, K&L Champagne buyer)
Details
| Origin | Champagne, France |
|---|---|
| Type/Varietal | Other White Wines |
| Alcohol Content | 12% |
| SKU | 1461920 |