Bollinger, La Grande Annee Rose 2015

Bollinger's 2015 Brut La Grande Année Rosé was disgorged last May with seven grams per litre dosage. Offering up deep aromas of orchard fruits, blood orange, mandarin rind, and peach mingled with nuances of coffee, praline and fino sherry, it's medium to full-bodied, pillowy and layered, with a broad attack that segues into a vinous palate framed by high levels of structuring dry extract that makes its presence felt on the sapid, nutty and penetrating finish. Given the year's skin maturity and inherent structure, the Bollinger team elected to include only 4.5% of still red wine in the blend, a comparatively low percentage.

Drink 2024 - 2045

This elegant, medium-bodied rosé includes select plots of pinot noir from the Cote Aux Enfants vineyard. It has a medium orange-amber colour, dark cherry skin, candied-plum aromas, and vivid strawberry and blood-orange flavours. Marked by finesse, it is light but very flavourful, complex, and layered.

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Dosage is 7 grams per liter. Disgorged: July 2023.

The 2015 Brut Grand Année Rosé is quite open in its aromatics but much more reticent on the palate. It's a Champagne that will need some time to be at its finest. Chalk, white pepper, grapefruit, blood orange and mint lend a notable presence to the bouquet. Today, the 2015 comes across as a touch ethereal and quite different overall feel than the Blanc.

Managing Director Charles-Armand de Belenet and Chef de Caves Denis Bunner have brought a renewed sense of energy at Bollinger that is palpable. Bollinger is among the maisons that are giving greater focus to vineyards and farming these days, as mentioned in the introduction to this report. The 2015 Grand Année and Grand Année Rosé are the latest releases, but plenty is in store for the near future.

Drink 2027 - 2034

60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay from the Montagne de Reims, Grande Vallée de la Marne, and Côte des Blancs, with a 5% red Pinot Noir addition, were fermented in small oak barrels and disgorged in May 2023 after seven years on lees.

This rosé has much in common with the forward, bold release of La Grande Année blanc, as the wines share 95% of their blend. The 5% red wine from La Côte aux Enfants that goes into this rosé, though, adds a light touch of red apple, strawberry and rosehip, playing on some of the bay leaf spice in the blend while adding an extra dose of structure and apple skin bite on the palate. This is a structured but engaging rosé that could promise its best – and reveal a little more of its creamy, nougat richness - with further ageing.

Drink 2025 - 2034