Bollinger, La Grande Année Brut, 2018 - Magnum
Bollinger, La Grande Année Brut, 2018 - Magnum
- 150cl
- 12%
- White Sparkling
- Pinot Noir, Chardonnay
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Optimal drinking window: 2030 - 2050
La Grande Année is Bollinger's prestige cuvée, and the 2018 is one of the most compelling releases in years. Bollinger have always been the Champenois who play by their own rules: high Pinot Noir content, fermentation in old oak barrels, extended ageing on lees, and the 2018 vintage gave them exceptional raw material to work with. A warm, generous growing season delivered ripe, structured fruit without sacrificing the house's signature grip and weight.
This is Champagne with genuine backbone - the Honest Grapes team were absolutely blown away when tasting the wine at the estate. Even better, it comes in at 15% less than the previous Grande Année release. Bravo to the Bollinger team!
What the critics say:
"In the generous, precocious 2018 season, Bollinger chose to anchor La Grande Année in a resolutely classical register. Particularly satisfied with the authority of their Pinot Noir, the backbone is drawn from Aÿ, Verzenay and Mareuil-sur-Aÿ. The Chardonnays come principally from Avize, Chouilly and Cuis, but in total, 19 grands and premiers crus contribute to the assemblage. The bouquet is immediately expressive, unfolding with ripe orchard fruit, yellow apple and poached pear, layered with Mirabelle plum, dried meadow flowers and a touch of sun-warmed straw. Aeration reveals subtle hints of light pastry and spice. On the palate, the texture is broad and finely chiselled, carried by a persistent salinity. The phenolic maturity of the warm vintage lends structure, framing the lush fruit. Despite its early approachability, there is no heaviness; instead, the wine combines suppleness with vibrancy, finishing long and seamless. Already gratifying yet clearly built for graceful evolution."
"Bollinger’s 2018 La Grande Année is quite pretty and delicate. Floral and citrus notes are nicely lifted in a Grande Année that offers notable sensuality and grace. Hints of orchard fruit, chamomile, mint and chalk build through the mid-palate and into the taut, chiseled finish. There’s plenty of energy and focus. More importantly, this is a fine effort in a year marked by high yields in Champagne. I would give this a few years in the cellar. The 2018 is 66% Pinot Noir and 34% Chardonnay from 19 villages, 73% Grand Cru and 37% Premier Cru. The core villages are Aÿ, Verzenay and Mareuil for Pinot Noir and Avize, Chouilly and Cuis for the Chardonnay. Dosage is 7 grams per liter. Disgorged: March 2025"
La Grande Année draws primarily from Bollinger's own grand cru holdings in Aÿ and Verzenay, along with premier cru fruit from Tauxières and Bisseuil. The chalk subsoil that runs beneath much of the Montagne de Reims and the Vallée de la Marne is the backbone of the wine's structure, providing both the mineral tension and the natural acidity that gives Bollinger its signature cut. Aÿ in particular is prized for its south-facing slopes and deep chalk, which push Pinot Noir towards power and complexity rather than simple red fruit.
Champagne is the northernmost and most tightly regulated sparkling wine appellation in France, with production confined to a precisely delimited area around Reims, Épernay, and the Aube. Only three principal grape varieties are permitted — Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Pinot Meunier — and the traditional method of secondary fermentation in bottle is mandatory. Prestige cuvées like La Grande Année sit at the top of the quality pyramid, sourced from the best classified villages and subject to extended ageing on the lees before release. The appellation's cool continental climate, combined with its famous chalk geology, is what makes Champagne's combination of delicacy, acidity, and ageing potential essentially unreplicable elsewhere.
The 2018 growing season in Champagne arrived like a gift after several challenging years. Spring brought warm, dry conditions that encouraged healthy flowering, followed by a summer that stayed remarkably consistent without the extreme heat spikes that can shut down photosynthesis. Rain arrived precisely when the vines needed it in late summer, plumping the grapes without diluting their flavour concentration. The harvest began in late August under sunny skies, with growers reporting some of the healthiest fruit they'd seen in years.
What emerged from this kindness was a vintage that marries immediate charm with serious structure. The Chardonnay shows beautiful purity and tension without the sometimes austere backbone of cooler years, while Pinot Noir developed lovely depth of colour and ripe red fruit character that speaks clearly through the bubbles. We find these wines drinking beautifully now, offering both the fresh exuberance that makes Champagne so joyful and the underlying complexity that will reward patience. Most 2018s will hit their stride over the next five to eight years, though the finest cuvées have the backbone to age gracefully well beyond that.
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