Bollinger La Grande Annee Brut 1999
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La Grande Année is the Prestige Cuvée of Champagne Bollinger.It is only produced when exceptional quality harvests occur, and is the expression of Bollinger's know-how.More than the illustration of the vintage particularity, La Grande Année is the result of the Bollinger style,of its exceptional "terroir" and traditional wine making techniques.La Grande Année develops a beautiful rounded structure and combines rich, complex and intense aromas,the expression of which changes according to the characteristics of the vintage.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
With this vintage, there are signs of a wine that is maturing fast. That’s the initial impression. But at the same time, there are wonderful dry fruits, minerality and sweet hazelnuts, all finely in balance. The layers get more complex, bringing in toast as well as acidity. Almost ready, but worth aging.
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Wine Spectator
A beautiful Champagne, from the complex floral-, coffee- and brioche-scented nose to the graphite, vanilla and citrus flavors. Light-weight and intense, with a lively structure and a long, lingering finish. Drink now through 2018. 2,500 cases imported.
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Wine & Spirits
Vibrant complexity drives this wine, one of the best from the 1999 vintage. The spice, leather and green fruit aromas hold its energy, while cool, earthy limestone grounds that tension, compacts it into powerful mineral flavors. As muscular as that structure may be, it’s beautifully balanced by the natural sweetness and freshness of the fruit—like the sweet pea and lima bean character of grüner veltliner. This has come a long way since we tasted it last year, and shows exceptional potential for further aging.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 1999 La Grande Annee is a refined, elegant wine with pretty, exotic notes of apricots, peaches, honey, flowers, smoke and toasted oak. There is notable clarity and precision, in a style that is generous and approachable. The 1999 La Grande Annee is 63% Pinot Noir and 37% Chardonnay, of which 82% came from grand cru vineyards while 18% came from premier cru sites spanning a total of 16 villages. The wine was aged in oak and dosage was 7-9 grams. This bottle was disgorged in July, 2007. I also tasted the February, 2008 disgorgement which showed a more opulent, quality that I found utterly sensual and irresistible. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2014.
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Wine
In 1829, Champagne Bollinger introduced an instantly recognizable, dry, toasty style that connoisseurs around the globe have coveted ever since. Six generations of the Bollinger family have maintained that trademark style, and Bollinger is one of the rare Grande Marque houses to be owned, controlled and managed by the same family since it was founded.
With 399 acres of vineyards situated in the best Grands Crus and Premiers Crus villages, Bollinger relies on its own estate for nearly two-thirds of its grape requirements, including the Pinot Noir that gives its Champagne its distinctive roundness and elegance. Bollinger is one of a select few houses that can control the quality of its grape supply so carefully.
Bollinger is renowned for its stringent quality standards. It adheres to traditional methods, including individual vinification of each marc and cru, barrel fermentation (it is the last Champagne house to employ a full-time cooper) and extra-aging on the lees prior to disgorgement.
Members of the British Royal Court were among the first to embrace Bollinger’s unmistakable quality, and Queen Victoria made Bollinger the exclusive purveyor to the Court by Royal Warrant in 1884. Besides royalty, loyal devotees have included heads of state, celebrities and even famous fictional characters: Agent 007, James Bond, demands the exclusive Champagne Bollinger.