2012 Bollinger Champagne La Grande Année Rosé i Gavetrækasse

Enticing aromas and flavors of wild strawberry, apricot and Macadamia nut are woven with accents of saffron, ground ginger, honey and orange peel in this seamlessly knit rosé in a vinous style. Satiny in texure, with an overall grace that belies the powerful tension and focus throughout, driving the lasting finish. Drink now through 2035. From France. -A.N.

The 2012 La Grande Année Rosé is airy, gracious and so wonderfully inviting. Crushed flowers, mint, white pepper and red berry fruit are all gracefully woven together. Today, the 2012 is naturally quite young and still shows the tension of a Champagne that was disgorged just a few months ago. Readers who prefer Champagnes with softer edges and a bit more flavor complexity will want to cellar the 2012. I have to admit, I very much like the wine today, in its youthful state, where its energy and focus are front and center. The 2012 is a blend of 67% Pinot Noir and 33% Chardonnay taken from 21 villages built around a core of Aÿ and Verzenay Pinot Noir and Le Mesnil-sur-Oger and Oiry Chardonnay, crus that are quite complementary. Disgorged January 2020. Dosage is 8 grams per liter.

12%; fashioned by blending a red wine from one of the house’s emblematic vineyards “La Cote Aux Enfants” located in the village of Ay. This plot of grand cru is only used for red when the grapes are perfectly ripe). The addition of the red wine is evident as this is more deeply hued than the NV Rosé. Ripe aromas of cherry, strawberry, rose petal, citrus and yeast give way to impressively voluminous and rich flavors that possess excellent mid-palate concentration. Like the 2012 Grande Année, this generously proportioned effort is not supercrisp, but everything is in perfect harmony and I am very impressed, indeed the word terrific comes to mind. 95/2024+

5% of red wine has been added by assemblage from the legendary pre-phylloxera La Cote Aux Enfants vineyard in Aÿ. The resulting power is subtle, gastronomic and bewitching: as a corollary to a lighter, onion-skin colour, there's an intensity and length on the palate allied to perfect integration of the 8g/l of sugar and the legacy of both oak fermentation and long yeast maturation, the latter under cork. The vinous power is such that this will match rich, savoury dishes such as quail, venison, pigeon and guinea fowl. A triumph! Drinking Window 2020 - 2035.