Champagne Bollinger
La Grande Année Rosé 2012
Champagne, France
A rosé version of La Grande Année is also made in certain vintages. Lily Bollinger agreed to a Bollinger rosé under one condition, it had to be extraordinary, and that is how La Grande Année Rosé was born: the subtle blend between a great vintage champagne and a a small percentage of red wine from one of the House’s emblematic vineyards, La Côte Aux Enfants, located in the village of Aÿ. This plot of Grand Cru is only used for red wine when the grapes are perfectly ripe. To produce a red wine of such high quality in the Champagne region is a challenge: a rare treat, a testament to the House’s expertise in Pinot Noir.
Reflecting its land and its traditional wine making methods, La Grande Année Rosé is famous for its promise of exceptional ageing qualities which makes it a great wine for cellaring. The richness of this wine is expressed by a deep color, perfectly balanced aromas and a lovely vinosity.
Vineyard
La Grande Année Rosé is another expression of La Grande Année, Champagne Bollinger’s prestige cuvée, made exclusively from Grand and Premier crus. Red wine for blending comes from one of the House’s emblematic vineyards, La Côte Aux Enfants, located in the village of Aÿ. This plot of Grand cru is only used for red when the grapes are perfectly ripe. To produce a red wine of such high quality in the Champagne region is a challenge: a rare treat, a testament to the House’s expertise in Pinot Noir. For the whole blend, 95% of the fruit was sourced from Grand Cru villages and 5% from Premier Cru villages. The Pinot Noir, 67% of the blend, comes predominantly from Äy and Verzenay, the Chardonnay, 33% of the belnd, from Mesnil-sur-Oger and Oiry.
Additionally, Bollinger was accredited with a “High Environmental Value” certification in 2012 (more here).
Winemaking
Reflecting its land and its traditional wine making methods, La Grande Année Rosé is famous for its promise of exceptional aging qualities which makes it a great wine for cellaring. The richness of this wine is expressed by a deep color, perfectly balanced aromas and a lovely vinosity.
La Grande Année Rosé is the unique blend between a great vintage Champagne and a red wine from a unique plot, the legendary Côte aux Enfants. The 2012 is a blend of 67% Pinot Noir and 33% Chardonnay, from a total of 21 crus.
The blend is vinified entirely in older oak barrels, and undergoes its second fermentation under cork, rather than on crown capsule. 5% of still red wine from the Côte aux Enfants vineyard is added. The wine spent approximately 6 years on the lees, and has a dosage of 8 grams per liter.
Vintage
At Bollinger, only very high quality harvests become a vintage; in 2008, the remarkable maturity of the grapes combined with a phenomenal acidity have produced a wine that is simultaneously full, fresh, and complex.
Tasting Note
A delicate rose color is derived from the legendary La Côte aux Enfants Pinot Noir. The nose is greeted by aromas of redcurrant and black fruits that are accompanied by lovely hints of citrus.
On the palate, there is a great deal of delicacy. The freshness and creamy texture are prolonged in the racy finish.
Food Pairing
Bollinger is often considered the ultimate food pairing Champagne, and La Grande Année Rosé 2012 is no exception. This wine pairs beautifully with duck breasts filets, quail, guinea fowl or venison sauce Grand Veneru. It serves as a great enhancement to oriental cuisines, and complements rhubarb or red berry crumble beautifully.
Color
Rose
Grape Varieties
Chardonnay, Pinot Noir
Appellation
Champagne, France
Farming
Champagne Bollinger supports sustainable wine growing by grassing over the ground, using biological pest control, reducing the use of herbicides, recycling pruning waste, and planting hedges and orchards to encourage biodiversity. The Côte aux Enfants vineyard is managed organically.
Suggested Retail Price
$205.00
Reviews
"Subtle, gastronomic and bewitching"
Decanter - March 12, 2020 "5% of red wine has been added by assemblage from the legendary La Cote Aux Enfants vineyard in Aÿ. The resulting power is subtle, gastronomic and bewitching: as a corollary to a lighter, onion-skin colour, there's an intensity and length on the palate allied to perfect integration of the 8g/l of sugar and the legacy of both oak fermentation and long yeast maturation, the latter under cork. The vinous power is such that this will match rich, savoury dishes such as quail, venison, pigeon and guinea fowl. A triumph!"
"Airy, gracious and so wonderfully inviting"
Vinous - August 28, 2020 "The 2012 La Grande Année Rosé is airy, gracious and so wonderfully inviting. Crushed flowers, mint, white pepper and red berry fruit are all gracefully woven together. I have to admit, I very much like the wine today, in its youthful state, where its energy and focus are front and center. The 2012 is a blend of 67% Pinot Noir and 33% Chardonnay taken from 21 villages built around a core of Aÿ and Verzenay Pinot Noir and Le Mesnil-sur-Oger and Oiry Chardonnay, crus that are quite complementary. Disgorged January 2020. Dosage is 8 grams per liter."
"Powerful tension and focus"
Wine Spectator - October 14, 2020 "Enticing aromas and flavors of wild strawberry, apricot and Macadamia nut are woven with accents of saffron, ground ginger, honey and orange peel in this seamlessly knit rosé in a vinous style. Satiny in texture, with an overall grace that belies the powerful tension and focus throughout, driving the lasting finish"
"This is impressive"
Wine Enthusiast - October 20, 2020 "As a rich dense Champagne that manages to bring in so many complex flavors, this is impressive. It has tense acidity, along with fresh red fruits that are just beginning to deepen and concentrate. They are balanced with the minerality and acidity as well as the weight of the Pinot Noir. Begin to drink this beautiful wine now although it has many years ahead of it."
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Trade Materials
Other Wines by this Producer
La Côte aux Enfants Champagne
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Established by Jacques Bollinger between 1926 and 1934, La Côte aux Enfants is a steep hillside vineyard located on the outskirts of Aÿ. This unique parcel has been a source of endless fascination, producing some of the most highly prized Pinot Noir in the region. Aware of its potential, it became Champagne Bollinger’s ambition to produce a great vintage Champagne exclusively from this vineyard, with 100% Pinot Noir. The fruit comes from the north-west side of the hill, revealing a particularly refined expression of La Côte aux Enfants vineyard.
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PN
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PN, made entirely from Pinot Noir to underscore the very essence and DNA of the House style, is the first new cuvée added to Bollinger’s permanent range since rosé in 2008. Each release of PN, developed as a series to bring Bollinger’s unique vision of Pinot Noir to light, will showcase a different cru from the base year that highlights its distinctive terroir and taste.
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La Côte aux Enfants
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A stunning and extremely rare, still red wine produced only for the greatest vintages. This wine harmoniously combines 100% Pinot Noir Grand Cru fruit from an exceptional vineyard with traditional Burgundian style winemaking. Historically, Pinot Noirs from Aÿ were the most popular wines of the French court, specifically a favorite of King Henri IV, and La Côte aux Enfants comes from a steep plot just outside of the village. This wine is the purest expression of Pinot Noir, offering a fine, delicate texture in the mouth, and a tautness giving it a beautifully long finish.
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Special Cuvée
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From vineyard to bottling, Special Cuvée sees such an extraordinary level of care and attention, it is difficult to place within the non-vintage or, really, any Champagne category. It is a Champagne that stands apart. Within one bottle, all the complexity of flavor, texture and pleasure that Champagne can offer. Special Cuvée is truly a journey of devotion from Bollinger.
Rosé
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In the same way that Special Cuvée stands apart from non-vintage Champagnes, Bollinger Rosé is an exception for Rosé Champagnes. What is more, it is a relative secret, as Bollinger did not release a non-vintage Rosé until 2008 and the quantity produced is quite limited. The wine begins as Special Cuvée and then Bollinger's specialty as the Pinot Noir producer in Champagne takes center stage, as the red fruits that join the conversation dance vibrantly, the finish has just a hint of perfectly ripe tannin, and the deep complexity of the wine shines through transparently.