Bollinger La Grande Annee Rose 2007 (RP96)

Country:             France
Region:               Champagne Rating:                RP96, WS95, JS95, WE94
Grape Variety:  72% Pinot Noir, 28% Chardonnay
Type of Wine:   Champagne
Bottle Size:        750ml

By Robert Parker's Wine Advocate 96
A blend of 72% Pinot Noir (mainly from Aÿ and Verzenay) with 28% Chardonnay (Cramant and Oger), Bollinger's 2007 La Grande Année Rosé Brut is a rich and powerful yet fresh and tightly woven Champagne that gets its characteristic coral color from the addition of 6% red Côte aux Enfants Pinot Noir from Aÿ. Fermented entirely in barrels and aged under natural cork, the 2007 offers a chalky-pure and matured bouquet of redcurrants, green figs, dark chocolate, minty and dried floral expressions. Very fresh and elegant on the palate, this is a full-bodied, dense, complex and structured rosé with a long, intense and well-structured finish that reveals the youthful soul of this fresh and chalky 2007. This is a long-distance runner and surely a wine to have with poultry dishes such as duck or pigeon. It will strongly benefit from further bottle aging. Tasted in May and June 2018 from lot L1733457 that was disgorged in November 2016. 2021 - 2032

Wine Spectator 95
Fragrant, with notes of chalk and spring blossom on the nose, this fresh and focused version offers a finely detailed, lacy palate of white raspberry, peach skin, toast and candied ginger flavors. Long and creamy on the spice- and smoke-laced finish. Disgorged November 2016. *Highly Recommended*

James Suckling 95
Honey and roses with fresh almonds and an array of dried berries, amid deep, rich, toasted-nut, autolysis character. The palate has a bold array of rich, concentrated berry flavors in a fresh core, surrounded by a warming wrap of grilled hazelnuts. Roasted coffee to close. Terrific complexity.

Wine Enthusiast 94
The age shows in the onion-skin color of this wine. On the palate it reveals itself in the sort of toastiness for which this producer is famed. The fruit is ripe, still hinting at red berries while moving much more to spice, almonds and mature acidity.