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2014 Bollinger, La Grande Annee
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Start Your Wine Collection with 2014 Bollinger, La Grande Annee
Begin your portfolio with a prestigious wine that has a history of growth.- Enjoy fully managed, secure storage facilities with insurance coverage.
- Get expert advice on when to hold and when to sell.
Vinovest 100Part of our index that tracks the 100 most investment-worthy wines in the world
11.6% of All Producers of Fine Wine
Grand MarqueMajor Champagne house with international brand recognition & undying customer loyalty
3.2% of Fine Wine Producers in Region
Top VintageBehold! One of the finest vintages of this wine ever made.
61.1% of Vinovest WinesWhy We're Buying
The 2014 vintage marked an inflection point in Bollinger's history. Gilles Descôtes replaced Matheieu Kauffmann as the chef de cave. Meanwhile, Denis Bunner filled the newly created deputy cellar master role. The dynamic duo made an immediate impact. First, it co-inoculated the alcoholic and malolactic fermentation to save energy. Second, they installed jetting to control oxygen ingress and improve consistency. The result is a Champagne with more focus and fullness than its predecessors. The 2014 Bollinger La Grande Année leads with mouthwatering acids that underpin a lush fruity core. Citrus, green apples, toasted nuts, flower petals, and a splash of iodine form a fragrant nose while streaks of chalkiness linger into the palate-cleansing finish. Investors will need to give this highly approachable Champagne two decades to reveal its full power and potential. The Final Sip: Even a changing of the guard couldn't diminish Bollinger's staying power among top-tier Champagne houses.
Critics Scores
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Offering up complex aromas of crisp yellow orchard fruit, confit citrus, frangipane, walnuts, dried white flowers and subtle hints of iodine, Bollinger's 2014 Brut La Grande Année is medium to full-bodied, pillowy and vinous, with an elegantly fleshy core of fruit that's underpinned by racy acids and complemented by a pretty pinpoint mousse. Concluding with a long, chalky finish, this is a charming but precise Grande Année that's more giving and demonstrative than its immediate predecessor, the 2012, but which attains a very similar level of quality in a more challenging vintage—testimony to the serious viticulture that underpins Bollinger's contemporary excellence.
Vinous
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.
Decanter
The 2014 is very closely linked to the cold vintages, which express the characteristics of the different terroirs, the soil, and therefore the minerality," explains Denis Bunner, assistant cellarmaster at Bollinger. "This is a vintage of contrasts, with one of the hottest Junes in the last 50 years, but a very cool August, resulting in slow ripening. We harvested from 15 September, for two weeks, which makes it one of our shortest harvests. The most important thing for us was to manage the ripeness in order to obtain the best possible sorting window." A blend of 61 Pinot Noir and 39 Chardonnay, this 2014 La Grande Année is from 19 villages, all grands and premiers crus, with 23 coming from Verzenay and 18 from Aÿ. It was aged for six months in small barrels. It has fresh and distinctive notes of lemon, herbs, red berries and gooseberries, and a splendid calcareous frame. The palate is mineral, tense and elegant with a dense structure, a perfectly balanced texture, fine bubbles, and a lingering finish.