"96 Points, Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com
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. Drinking Window 2030 - 2048, Reviewed April 2025
95-97 Points, Essi Avellan MW
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. 95 points with potential for 97
94-96 Points, Richard Juhlin
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 Anne e. 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."
La Grande Année is the embodiment of the carefully preserved traditional expertise of the Bollinger Champagne House. The wine is exclusively vinified in small aged oak barrels. Bollinger has never abandoned this traditional craft method, which helps develop aromas of great finesse. After a prolonged ageing on its lees, every bottle of La Grande Année is riddled and disgorged by hand.
This lovely expression of the 2018 vintage is a blend of 66% Pinot Noir and 34% Chardonnay from 19 crus, with the fruit coming exclusively from Grand Crus and Premier Crus; predominantly Aÿ and Verzenay for the Pinot Noir, Chouilly and Avize for the Chardonnay. Vinification takes place in 100% small old oak barrels, aged under natural cork for 7 years on its lees and still riddled and disgorged by hand….no expense is spared!
And the 2018 is a wonderful success. A vintage marked by an early and abundant harvest (first grapes picked by 23rd of August). A late budburst followed by a mild spring weather gave way to a hot, dry summer, resulting in a harvest in perfect sanitary condition. The chalk soils of Bollinger’s Grands and Premiers Crus vineyards regulated conditions, producing particularly excellent, concentrated and perfectly ripe Pinot noir.
The wine offers freshness and there is little surprise that Champagne Bollinger’s signature rich, open style shines through. The wonderful smoky, nutty and caramel tones imparted by Bollinger’s distinct oak barrel fermentation are already present and the long period of lees ageing add to its exceptional aromatic intensity.
