2014 Bollinger Champagne La Grande Année Rosé

The 2014 Rosé La Grande Année is airy, gracious and full of energy. Crushed rocks, white pepper, red berry, mint and blood orange lend striking aromatic intensity and presence. Finely cut and taut, the Rosé is a nervy Champagne that needs time to come together. The Rosé is blended from a base of the Blanc plus 5% still red Pinot from Bollinger’s Coteaux des Enfants vineyard in Aÿ. Perhaps because of its later disgorgement vis-à-vis the Blanc, the Rosé is a bit tight today. Disgorged: August, 2021. Dosage: 8 grams per liter.

63% pinot noir, 37% chardonnay from 19 crus, mainly Aÿ and Verzenay for pinot noir and Chouilly and Oiry for chardonnay; 80% grand crus and 20% premier crus; 5% red wine from La Côte aux Enfants; fermented and aged entirely in oak barrels of around 20 years of age; tiraged under cork; riddled and disgorged by hand; 8g/L dosage; disgorged August 2021. While the recipe may look remarkably similar on paper, I love the idiosyncratic distinctiveness of LGA Rosé, alongside its white sibling. Pinot noir takes a more emphatic and confident lead here, telling the story of its journey through the 2014 harvest in intricate, page by page detail. A cool summer is portrayed vividly in red fruit detail of pristine red cherries, perfect strawberries, juicy raspberries, even a hint of Turkish delight, very much the mood of the elegant slopes of Verzenay and Aÿ. Perfect ripeness and an alluring fruit core tell the tale of a sunny harvest. Bollinger’s wizardry with red wine is on full display here, a monumental feat after a cool summer, magnificent testimony to La Côte aux Enfants; a tiny 5% is all it calls for to amplify its red fruits without adding a molecule of perceptible tannin grip. A glorious, medium salmon copper hue is but a consequence, reinforcing its storyline of brightness and radiance, to a breathtaking subplot of perfectly ripe yet vibrant acidity that holds all the way to the final chapter. A deep stirring of spice, dried plum and subtle patisserie signs Bollinger, yet with greater restraint than those before it. Crystalline, salty chalk minerality leaves the final impression, confirming the most dashingly refined LGA Rosé I can recall.

Disgorged with eight grams per liter dosage, Bollinger's 2014 Brut La Grande Année Rosé wafts from the glass with aromas of tangerine oil, red berries, warm biscuits and English walnuts. Full-bodied, fleshy and enveloping, it's a broad, vinous Champagne, with a deep core of fruit and racy acids, complemented by a delicate pinpoint mousse and concluding with delicate and enlivening phenolic grip on the finish.

This graceful rosé Champagne has a lovely, creamy viscosity, enfolding aromas and flavors of ripe apricot and plum fruit, toasted almond, tea rose, dried mint and pickled ginger. This version's lush flavors and texture are well-meshed with and enlivened by a firm streak of racy acidity, with a chalky underpinning emerging to drive the finish. Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Disgorged August 2021. Drink now through 2034.

The pleasurable and vibrant La Grande Année 2014 as the base, the red Pinot Noir wine from La Côte aux Enfants vineyard blends in perfectly, creating La Grande Année Rosé of effortless beauty and seamlessness. The wine comes with bright, orange hued peachy color. There is a sweet strawberry note to the nuanced nose of cherry, peach candy, vanilla, licorice and quince. It is for the time being youthful with the rainbow of berry aromas dominating. Yet the refined spiciness comes forward stronger on the silky-smooth palate of utterly sophisticated phenolics. The overall impression is elegant, even if vinous, with the brisk acidity enhancing the feeling of vibrancy and lightness. The wine ends on a gourmand, savoury and fruity note. A gorgeous La Grande Année Rosé. Tasting note for a bottle disgorged in August 2021.

After eight years from harvest, this Champagne is beautifully balanced. Touches of toast and a rounded texture still are lifted by the taut, minerality and complexity. This is an impressive wine with a long, lingering, memorable aftertaste that will age further, although it is ready to drink.

96P+: Consisting of 63% Pinot Noir and the rest Chardonnay, with 6% still wine from Côte Aux Enfants, the 2014 Champagne La Grande Année Brut Rosé is more expressive now and jumps out of the glass with fresh toasted brioche, apricot, wild raspberry, and orange custard. The palate is rounded and precise, with the spine and tension expressive of the cool vintage, followed by notes of golden orchard fruit, currant, and fresh salinity. This is showing well right now and is hard to resist, although it will certainly improve over the next 10 to 20 years. Disgorged March of 2022.

Pale coral with a glimmer of gold, the La Grand Annee Rosé 2014 is a 63% Pinot Noir and 37% Chardonnay blend with 5-6% of still Cote Aux Enfants Pinot Noir. The blend was vinified together in small oak barrels and aged on fine lees until it was manually riddled and disgorged March 2022 with a seven gram per liter dosage. Revealing beautifully vinous and savory aromas of red currants, apricot turnover, bergamot, walnuts and lemon oil, this 2014 rosé opens onto a full-bodied, open-knit palate brimming with mineral-rich salinity, buoyant acidity and a savory red fruit finish with a little tannic grip. Wonderful, vinous champagne that is gastronomic and opulent.