BOLLINGER
2012 Grande Année Rosé Brut Champagne Bollinger
Initial hit of blackberry fruit, cherries, rosehip, dried flowers, mocha, and a touch of pepper. The palate has a supple intensity, red fruits, strawberry, cherries, wrapped round with notes of mocha, touch of florality, creamy but balanced, ripe acid, good fruit depth, persistence on the finish with some dried red berry intensity.L&S (Feb 2020)
In Bond
75cl bottles (case of 6)
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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. (Originally published in August 2020). Drinking range: 2020 - 2032 Rating: 96 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Nov 2020)
67% Pinot Noir, 33% Chardonnay. Similar origins for the fruit as the white 2012, from a total of 21 crus, mainly Aÿ and Verzeney for the Pinot Noir and Le Mesnil-sur-Oger and Oiry for the Chardonnay, with 5% red wine from the Côte aux Enfants. Again like the white, it is entirely fermented in oak barrels and aged for twice the time required by the AOC rules, before being finished with a moderate dosage of 8gr/l.Winemaker's notes (Feb 2020)
Champagne Bollinger
Jacques Bollinger, who was born at Ellwanger in the Kingdom of Wurtemberg, came to Champagne in 1822. In 1829, together with Hennequin de Villermont and Paul Levieux Renaudin, he founded the Champagne House of Bollinger Renaudin at Ay. The Bollinger family have managed the House ever since. Despite Paul Renaudin dying without issue, his name remained on the label until the 1960's. Pehaps the most famous member of the Bollinger family was "Lilly" Bollinger who married Jacques' great grandson and took over the Company when he died in 1941. She is responsible for the famous quote "I drink it when I’m happy and when I’m sad. Sometimes I drink it when I’m alone. When I have company I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I’m not hungry and drink it when I am. Otherwise, I never touch it—unless I’m thirsty" Except in the very best vintages, only the first pressings are used (the rest being sold off) and Bollinger still carry out first fermentations in oak. Bollinger own around 160ha of vineyard which account for about 60% of their requirements. They are planted to about 60% Pinot Noir.