Bollinger La Grande Annee Brut 2005
-
Spectator
Wine -
Suckling
James -
Parker
Robert
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
The delicate blush and old gold colors of the La Grande Annee are a sign of maturity and of Bollinger's winemaking skills. Its aromas are a testimony to the barrels its aged in: toasted bread and brandied fruit, plus notes of exotic spices, rhubarb and stone fruit. The bubbles are powerful yet soft and there is remarkable structure and length on the palate
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Spectator
A powerful, structured and graceful 2005, showing deft integration of the rich, chalky underpinning, firm acidity and expansive flavors of crushed black currant, spring blossom, toasted almond, crystallized honey and preserved lemon. Offers a fine, raw silk—like mousse and a long, spiced finish.
-
James Suckling
Impressive concentration and power here. This is really assertive with ripe yellow orchard fruits and citrus within a core encased in a layer of more savory, toasty notes on both the nose and palate. There's that gentle hint of aldehyde that is the traditional stamp of the house plus savory woody notes, white mushrooms and some chalk and spices, too. The palate has a fleshy opening, filling out with peach and hazelnut flavors before a smooth ride to the finish. Approachable and complex. Drink it now through to 2020.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Bollinger's 2005 La Grande Année is a classical but comparatively precocious rendition of this cuvée that's already drinking well, offering up aromas of honeyed yellow apples, dried white flowers, English walnuts, praline and tea leaves. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, broad and vinous, with a fine mousse, ripe acids and a dry, richly saline finish. It was disgorged with six grams per liter dosage after more than nine years sur lattes. While this isn't a historic vintage for Bollinger—or for Champagne as a whole—it's a persuasive Grande Année that exemplifies the house style.
Other Vintages
2014- Vinous
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert -
Suckling
James
-
Wong
Wilfred -
Spectator
Wine -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spirits
Wine & -
Parker
Robert -
Suckling
James
-
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Spirits
Wine & -
Parker
Robert - Decanter
-
Spectator
Wine -
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine -
Suckling
James - Decanter
-
Spirits
Wine &
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert
-
Spirits
Wine & -
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine -
Spirits
Wine &
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spirits
Wine & -
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert
-
Spectator
Wine
-
Spectator
Wine
-
Spectator
Wine -
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Spirits
Wine & -
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
In 1829, Champagne Bollinger introduced an instantly recognizable, dry, toasty style that connoisseurs around the globe have coveted ever since. Six generations of the Bollinger family have maintained that trademark style, and Bollinger is one of the rare Grande Marque houses to be owned, controlled and managed by the same family since it was founded.
With 399 acres of vineyards situated in the best Grands Crus and Premiers Crus villages, Bollinger relies on its own estate for nearly two-thirds of its grape requirements, including the Pinot Noir that gives its Champagne its distinctive roundness and elegance. Bollinger is one of a select few houses that can control the quality of its grape supply so carefully.
Bollinger is renowned for its stringent quality standards. It adheres to traditional methods, including individual vinification of each marc and cru, barrel fermentation (it is the last Champagne house to employ a full-time cooper) and extra-aging on the lees prior to disgorgement.
Members of the British Royal Court were among the first to embrace Bollinger’s unmistakable quality, and Queen Victoria made Bollinger the exclusive purveyor to the Court by Royal Warrant in 1884. Besides royalty, loyal devotees have included heads of state, celebrities and even famous fictional characters: Agent 007, James Bond, demands the exclusive Champagne Bollinger.
Representing the topmost expression of a Champagne house, a vintage Champagne is one made from the produce of a single, superior harvest year. Vintage Champagnes account for a mere 5% of total Champagne production and are produced about three times in a decade. Champagne is typically made as a blend of multiple years in order to preserve the house style; these will have non-vintage, or simply, NV on the label. The term, "vintage," as it applies to all wine, simply means a single harvest year.
Associated with luxury, celebration, and romance, the region, Champagne, is home to the world’s most prized sparkling wine. In order to bear the label, ‘Champagne’, a sparkling wine must originate from this northeastern region of France—called Champagne—and adhere to strict quality standards. Made up of the three towns Reims, Épernay, and Aÿ, it was here that the traditional method of sparkling wine production was both invented and perfected, birthing a winemaking technique as well as a flavor profile that is now emulated worldwide.
Well-drained, limestone and chalky soil defines much of the region, which lend a mineral component to its wines. Champagne’s cold, continental climate promotes ample acidity in its grapes but weather differences from year to year can create significant variation between vintages. While vintage Champagnes are produced in exceptional years, non-vintage cuvées are produced annually from a blend of several years in order to produce Champagnes that maintain a consistent house style.
With nearly negligible exceptions, . These can be blended together or bottled as individual varietal Champagnes, depending on the final style of wine desired. Chardonnay, the only white variety, contributes freshness, elegance, lively acidity and notes of citrus, orchard fruit and white flowers. Pinot Noir and its relative Pinot Meunier, provide the backbone to many blends, adding structure, body and supple red fruit flavors. Wines with a large proportion of Pinot Meunier will be ready to drink earlier, while Pinot Noir contributes to longevity. Whether it is white or rosé, most Champagne is made from a blend of red and white grapes—and uniquely, rosé is often produce by blending together red and white wine. A Champagne made exclusively from Chardonnay will be labeled as ‘blanc de blancs,’ while ones comprised of only red grapes are called ‘blanc de noirs.’