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La Grande Année 2014

Bollinger, Champagne, France

Bollinger
Champagne France
  • 97
    Points
  • The 823 best
    of 3 290 954
    wines globally
  • 5 Pros of
    6 recommend
    this wine
158 97
  • Taste
  • Moment

  • Country ranking ?

    708

  • Producer ranking ?

    31

  • Decanting time

    15min

  • When to drink

    now to 2040

  • Food Pairing

    sushi

The Tb points given to this wine are the world’s most valid and most up-to-date evaluation of the quality of the wine. Tastingbook points are formed by the Tastingbook algorithm which takes into account the wine ratings of the world's best-known professional wine critics, wine ratings by thousands of tastingbook’s professionals and users, the generally recognised vintage quality and reputation of the vineyard and winery. Wine needs at least five professional ratings to get the Tb score. Tastingbook.com is the world's largest wine information service which is an unbiased, non-commercial and free for everyone.

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A truly great Bollinger by every measure, blessed with incredible longevity, and grand testimony to the wizardry of this house to draw out all the glories of endurance and elegance from a less than simple season. - Tyson Stelzer, 97 Points

 

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The Story

La Grande Année is the very embodiment of an exceptional, timeless champagne. Artisanal savoir-faire is at the heart of its production. One such artisanal technique is vinification, which takes place in oak barrels that are around 20 years old. This helps the wine develop complex aromas, and, thanks to micro-oxygenation, lends an extraordinary ageing potential. These 4,000 barrels are housed and maintained in the Champagne Bollinger Cooperage....

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Wine Information

The 2014 vintage was the product of a year of mixed fortunes. A rainy autumn and winter gave way to two parched, sunny months, of which June was the sunniest in 50 years. Then there was summer, August in particular, when we saw especially cold weather. 

All Bollinger vineyards began harvesting at the same time, on the 15th of September, and finished just nine days later. This is notably brief as harvesting usually takes two weeks. Owing in ...

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Vintage 2014

This year was all about alternating weather patterns. A particularly wet winter gave way to a warm and dry spring. May saw some rain, and even though late June-brought about a minor heatwave, the remainder of the summer was moist and murky. Disease pressure was lifted but once again fine, hot September weather was able to save and concentrate the crop. A large crop (11,553 kg/ha) was picked from September 8th onwards. The year's biggest proble...

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Latest Pro-tasting notes

<10 tasting notes

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Written Notes

Undoubtedly exhibiting more minerality than one expects from this house, but also some of the typical Bollinger green apple crispness. A note like a freshly baked lemon curd sponge cake. Spices, citrus, a hint of red fruits, some stone fruit notes, and a lingering finish. A fresh sea breeze note (more prosaically, think bright salinity). Hints of vanilla and although, as usual, oak is used in vinification, fermentation (malo), and maturation, there is no real obvious impact from it. A touch of toast.

 

The texture is seductive and more elegant than the usual Bolly richness, if one can ever call Bolly elegant (if we can, this is the vintage). This has balance and precision and maintains intensity throughout. It has years ahead of it. Dosage is 8 grams/liter, and time on lees was seven years. Our bottle was disgorged in August 2021. For me, 97. Okay, not overwhelming us with Bolly “DNA,” but I don’t care. A cracking wine.

One point: this will, in time, be released as an R.D. (“Recently Disgorged”). I will be fascinated to compare a bottle aged under cork with the R.D. When that happens (don’t hold your breath, it will be around 2030), because this has such wonderful aging potential I think the R.D. might struggle to top it. The next R.D. will be the 2008, which will be released next year, but again in 2024 and also 2025. So stocks will be very limited each time. It should be something incredibly special though.  

 

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  • 97p

‘I belong to the group of people that believes that Bollinger above all shows its greatness in lighter and more elegant vintages as the inherent Pinot-driven masculine power they possess is always sufficient. In the grand generous vintages, one must fight hard to hold back the rumbling force and maintain freshness and sublime details. 2014 is a textbook example in the lighter category. 

Many champagnes from 2014 are simply too light, vague, and floral in nature, but this does not apply in any way to Bollinger La Grande Année. Here, they have beautifully navigated their way between the grains of the vintage and instead focused on its merits. The champagne is thus clearer and more elegant with a higher proportion of Chardonnay from Chouilly and Oiry than usual to include and embrace the citrusy and floral sides. The extremely intense aroma is otherwise dominated by a marked air of sea breezes, sea urchins, oyster shells, iodine and gunpowder smoke originating from Verzenay. There is also a light note of hazelnut and leather from Aÿ. The combination of these pillars and all complementary villages also gives a delicate fruit with hints of orange citrus, peach, and Mirabelle plum. The aromas come again in the fine and medium-bodied taste with an added note of the finest vanilla and fresh cep in olive oil. 

Overall, this is an extremely beautiful and complex Bollinger on the finer and more elegant half of the whole. I love how you find new little details in a harmonious simplicity with each new sip. Fascinating and beautiful already, grand as R.D. in 10 years or more and without a doubt one of the vintage’s rare hits.’

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  • 94p

“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.

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  • 98p

Bollinger La Grande Année 2014 / “An intriguing combination of a sunny year’s forward fruitiness and late September harvest’s freshness. These characters get further amplified by the high percentage of Chardonnay and important share of cooler profile Verzenay Pinot Noir in the blend. On the nose ripe peach, candied apple and vanilla blend in beautifully with delicate floral and lemony notes as well as mineral iodine whiffs. The gentle oaky note stylishly stays in the background. There is supple volume on the lacey-textured palate, but this wine plays much less on concentration and weight than what we are used to with La Grande Année. Instead its finest feature is the salivating acidity and sensation of minerality that carries the wine until the long, palate-cleansing finish. Already open and pleasurable on the nose, but the palate stands firm with mineral restraint promising longevity. Perfectly dosed at 8g/l. Note for a bottle disgorged in April 2021.”

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  • 94p
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Information

Origin

Ay, Champagne

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Inside Information

La Grande Année 2014 is the perfect champagne for celebrating all of life's special moments. To fully appreciate its unique style and aromas, this wine is best served between 8 and 10°C. You can enjoy La Grande Année 2014 now or choose to age it in your cellar.

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