Bollinger Champagne La Grande Annee Brut 2012 (3L)

Name: Bollinger Champagne La Grande Annee Brut 2012 (3L)
Brand: Vintus Direct [VID]
SKU: SF-VID-062325-768
Price: 749.99 USD
Availability: InStock

$749⁹⁹

Full and expressive. Apricot, almond and hazelnut, followed by notes of honey and cereals intertwining in a symphony of aromas.

Shipping

Every step of the journey is managed to uphold the integrity of each bottle.

Nationwide Access: Flat-rate shipping available to most U.S. states with delivery in 3-5 business days.
Temperature-Monitored Shipping: We closely monitor weather conditions and make informed decisions to ensure shipments travel safely, with insulated packaging and refrigerated transport available when required.
Wine-Specific Protective Packaging: Specialized materials designed to maintain label integrity and prevent breakage during transit.
Provenance Assured: All wines are maintained in climate-controlled conditions at our shop until the moment of dispatch.

Returns & Exchanges

We stand behind every bottle we sell.

If the wine is less than 10 years old and it is corked, you may return it to us for a full refund or exchange within 60 days of purchase. You must show us proof of purchase. We understand that you may not live near a shop and that it is difficult to ship open bottles of wine to us, so if there's any problem feel free to Contact Us and we'll work it out.
For wines older than 10 years, the consumer bears the risk of a faulty cork, but we accept returns of older bottles if the wine is faulty as a result of improper storage. Please come by the store or Contact Us if there is a problem.
We may, at our discretion and to the extent permitted by law, accept returns of unopened wines within 30 days of purchase if they were properly stored by the purchaser, subject to a 15% re-stocking fee.

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Antonio Galloni

94 points

"The 2012 Grande Année is vibrant and wonderfully nuanced. Citrus peel, orchard fruit, brioche, dried flowers and chamomile are all finely knit in a Grand Année built on energy and persistence more than size. Readers will find a restrained Grand Année in 2012. There is plenty of the textural richness that is such a signature of the house style, but I am also struck by the wine's freshness. Best of all, the 2012 will drink well right out of the gate. It is quite expressive today, even in the early going." —Vinous

Robert Parker

95 points

"Bollinger's 2012 Brut La Grande Année is showing well, offering up an incipiently complex bouquet of crisp yellow orchard fruit, fresh peach, orange oil, toasted walnuts and dried apricot that's still quite reserved with less than a year on cork. Full-bodied, deep and muscular, the 2012 is blockier and broader-shouldered than its 2008 predecessor, with a weightier and even more concentrated palate built around a bright spine of acidity, concluding with a chalky finish that carries appreciably dry extract. This isn't quite as elegant as the exquisite 2008, but it is a superb effort and obviously built to age." —William Kelley

Jancis Robinson

17.5 points

"Bright crème pâtissière nose with notes of Cox's orange pippin apple and lots of development. Really quite arresting. Much drier on the palate than the nose suggests, with a certain steeliness. Bone-dry finish but lots of substance on the mid palate. More recognisably Bollinger on the palate than the surprisingly rich, flirtatious nose, presumably informed by the vintage. Low-key mousse. This is clearly a long-distance runner."

Decanter

93 points

"Texture is key here, with a fruit basket of indulgence tempting the senses, the predominant Pinot Noir adding plums, cherry and hints of cedar to the creamy, toasty core that has been bequeathed by the barrel fermentation. Energetic, vital and brimming with potential, its 8g/l of sugar is lightly worn. This is a seductive Grande Année, hard to resist in its youth but far from lacking gravitas and matière to secure a happy development."

Wine Spectator

97 points

"This goes from zero to 60 right out of the gate, with an intense spine of acidity driving tightly meshed flavors of crushed black currant, ground coffee, candied grapefruit peel and toasted almond. The profile expands on the palate, carried by the fine, raw silk-like mousse. Richly aromatic and expressive from start to lasting, spiced finish."

Wine Enthusiast

96 points

"Still young for a wine of this caliber, this rich Champagne has an immense future ahead of it. The freshness of the wine will mature into the rich toastiness that is such a hallmark of this brand. Oak fermentation and aging have added to the great promise of this fine wine."

More about Bollinger

Walking the storied caves of Champagne Bollinger in the renowned village of Aÿ, you can’t help but wonder if everyone who works here is a little crazy. This is the wine industry, and Champagne's maisons are famous for capitalistic pursuits. Yet at Bollinger, decisions seem to be focused between the bounds of science and artistic expression. Excellence is the priority, no matter the cost.

This pursuit of excellence began with Madame Bollinger. Of course, there were a slew of men who’d established and expanded the estate over the century before her, but it was this 42-year-old widow who changed its destiny.

Maybe being widowed at the height of WWII inspired her to take nothing for granted. Each step in the production was held up to rigorous examination. Pressing, fermentation and aging vessels, blending components, closures for secondary fermentation, time sur latte, riddling and of course dosage levels. If it touched the juice or the wine, it was scrutinized.

For instance, she discovered that when aged up to 5 years — as Bollinger's Special Cuvée is, much longer than any other Maison’s non-vintage wine — the wine was best kept under a crown cap (like a beer top) before disgorgement. Any longer than that, and a natural cork was optimal. While expensive and laborious, it better protects the wine from oxygen, allowing it to age more gracefully for longer. All of the vintage wines only use cork.

Famously, the house's reserve wine is aged in a collection of 800,000 magnums, each under cork with a touch of sugar and yeast for freshness. The expense of materials and labor for this step is mind boggling. But it's a major component in the Special Cuvée blend because it continuously presents the best results.

Finally, this one of two houses to ferment entirely in oak (the other is Krug). Bollinger recently hosted a blind tasting of special bottles of Champagnes fermented in either stainless steel, 5-, 25-, or 50-year-old barrels. The differences were stark — the older the barrel, the better, for unbeatable mouthfeel and structure. To maintain their enormous stock of barrels (some are up to 100 years old), they employ an in-house cooper, the last property in the region to do so. Special Cuvée, again, benefits from this devotion to quality.

Bollinger is one of three family-owned Champagne houses, and has been making consistent and exceptional wines for generations. We spend a lot of time extolling the virtues of Champagne’s fast-changing grower movement that we sometimes forget to appreciate what has been in front of us all along. Today, we celebrate Bollinger's commitment to their art form, no matter how crazy their methods may seem.