2018 Bollinger Grande Annee

If 2015 was like a walk in the forest in autumn, 2018 is spring-winter just when nature is starting to wake up. Enormous expectant energy and an underlying well-hidden power that will be firing on all cylinders after 2035. A real knockout fist treacherously draped in silk gloves. Cold, fresh and sparkling notes of citrus and Granny Smith apples dance beautifully together with the more classic Bollinger notes of brioche and gunpowder-smoky minerality. Right now, there are more green apples here than red apples, more raspberries than peaches, more acacia and yellow roses than honeysuckle, more bitter almonds than hazelnuts, more cinnamon than tar, more shiitake mushrooms than cep, more butterscotch than chocolate, more light birch wood than heavy sauna notes.

We are therefore dealing with a classic and extremely complex Bollinger with a bright energy. It is easy to be tempted to believe that the wine is lighter than it is because the fresh elements camouflage the strength. The oak is not so pronounced aromatically, but its effect is still clear through the creamy and velvety palate that the wine conveys. Even the biscuity complexity that attracts our senses has part of its origin from the micro-oxidation via the oxygen exchange through the fibers of the small oak barrels. Many have made brilliant champagnes in 2018, but most are still shy and unredeemed and require long aging. This is not the case with Bollinger La Grande Annee. Here you can be part of a wonderful experience right away, although I personally will wait many years before I open my own bottles when the great depth has arrived. 94-96 points