Champagne Bollinger La Grande Année 2002

champagne france

Champagne Bollinger La Grande Année 2002

I feel a bit daft writing a review of this wine. After all, it’s not headline news that Bollinger’s Grande Annee from a top vintage is a really good wine. But given a chance to take a sneak preview of this yet to be released Champagne (which will be available from February 2011), I thought I’d better share my impressions. This note is not from a tasting sample. The bottle was consumed. It’s very young, very primary, but quite serious.

Champagne Bollinger La Grande Année 2002
12% alcohol. 60% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay. 71% Grand Cru, 29% Premier Cru. Fermented in small French oak, with the second fermentation under natural cork; hand-disgorged (July 2010). Very precise, taut, pithy, citrussy nose is complex with lovely fresh apple notes. The palate is concentrated, dense and structured with very fresh citrus fruit dominating at the moment. Still primary, with grapefruit pith freshness. Really pure and with plenty of potential for further development. 94/100

4 Comments on Champagne Bollinger La Grande Année 2002Tagged ,
wine journalist and flavour obsessive

4 thoughts on “Champagne Bollinger La Grande Année 2002

  1. I have been a huge fan of Grande Année for years. Glad to hear we all have another great vintage to look forward to!

  2. Interesting. There’s all sorts of minute details at Bollinger that are a little different from other Champagne maisons. Not only are the wines refermented under natural cork but all the reserve wines (added to the Special Cuvee, not this wine) are aged in magnums, not inox tanks as is the norm.
    But I’m really curious about the “hand-disgorged” claim here. Where do you get that from? If I’m not mistaken the Grande Annee is made in some 300K bottles so that’s a lot to hand disgorge over a limited period of time.

  3. Bollinger RD is notoriously hand disgorged, but as you say, quite many bottles are made, thus the process takes place for a period of up to 2 years.. Amazing but true. On the positive side of this, you will find the month and year of when it was disgorged on the back label.
    Could be interesting finding 2 bottles from each end of the period to compare…

  4. I bought some of this a while back since I love Bollinger but not yet tried the Grande Annee. What would be the best window for drinking?

Leave a Reply

Back To Top