Brad, while I have you, what’s the word on the 2008 Billecart-Salmon Champagne Brut Millésimé?
Robert,
I would call it a flaw, but others would call it a style issue or even a ‘value add’. Depends on your view. I love the wines of Selosse and the style they show, but what I call the attractive style of Anselme and Guillaume’s wines, others call a flaw.
Doug,
Bollinger hasn’t acknowledged they have a problem and isn’t all that open to discussing it. I believe they are trying to remedy things and it has to do with figuring out how to appropriately reduce SO2 (when to use and how much) mixed with jetting. To date, their attempts to remove SO2 at disgorgement and jet have not been successful IMO, but I know they are working to get things right even if they won’t talk much about it because, after all, there is no problem…
Neal,
I like it, but think it needs time and could have used a bit more dosage to highlight the fruit. It should age well, but to me it is right at the point where you really have to look at price. This goes for $65-$75 in Champagne and it delivers at that price point, but there are other 2008s that deliver more for less. Also, I am not sure where they are going to target things price-wise in the US.
I recently purchased the '99. What about it did you not like?
Thanks Brad. Envoyer had it today for $70. When do we get a CW on the value 2008s? ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
Heavy, clunky, bruised apple. Your bottles may well be better though.
2004 GA rose showed well at a recent tasting I attended. Full bodied but needs time to show its best, IMO.
I’ve posted here for at least five or six years that Bollinger has become a train wreck with regard to aging. They produced such great and age worthy wines in the '60’s and '70’s. I bought small quantities of '02 and '04 Bollinger and only in magnum. Have just a couple of '02’s left and I will open those this year and finish my mags of '04’s over the next year.
That’s sad, Ray. I know you’ve mentioned that several times, as have a couple of other people. Tom Stevenson even wrote about it in World of Fine Wine several years ago. Yet Bollinger refuses to acknowledge the problem.
I think the real problems with Bollinger (for both NV and vintage wines) started with the wines disgorged 2013/2014. This is when I noticed the wines became quite variable with a lot of bottles showing either way too much oxidation or a dull, lifeless personality. A lot of the vintages in the 90s and early 2000s were precocious and much better enjoyed in their youthful vigor or the first 5-10 years after release. This was quite a change from the past, but I don’t think the quality dropped; I just think the style changed and they peaked earlier. Of course, if you are looking for the classic, aged Champagne characteristics that Bollinger was once so well known for, you were (are) not going to get them anymore. It all depends on what you are looking for.
ok, so if you love the Bollinger style, what champagne are people buying instead?
Bollinger’s style is all its own, but a couple that spring to mind that are are still values are Charles Heidsieck (although quite a bit more smooth and creamy) and Alfred Gratien (although a bit more spicy).
Thanks! I already buy Heidsieck, but I havent tried Gratien (that I remember).
Could this in part explain ageability issues with the Vieilles Vignes Francaises over and above it being 100% Pinot? I ask in large part because Krug Ambonnay, while it certainly seems to develop faster than the other Krug wines, does not seem to be in danger of going over the hill in anywhere near the time frame of the VVF.
Heidsieck is definitely a reliable house and one of my favorites among the Grande Marques. Gratien can be great and some vintages age very well, but some wines can be quite underwhelming and simple compared to the often more burly and complex Bollinger style.
Stylistically Heidsieck is definitely as toasty as Bollinger, but in a somewhat brighter style, lacking the oxidative depth that comes from the oak barrels (Bollinger uses oak, Heidsieck only stainless steel). If you like that nutty, Burgundian undertone in your Champagnes, there are some outstanding small producers making Champange in that vinous, barrel-aged style similar to Bollinger. Marguet, Francis Boulard, Benoit Lahaye and Charlot-Tanneux pop into my mind immediately.
I think it compounds the issue. Recently a friend brought a bottle of '04 VVF to lunch which he purchased on release and it was already a little past its prime. That said, the couple of '96 VVF’s I’ve had in the past couple of years were still fresh and going strong.
About ten years ago a group of us did a comprehensive VVF vertical and almost all, if not all of the older ones were dead or dying. And remember, I love good examples of 50 year old Champagne. Brad - I think you were at that dinner?
My experience is that since 1988, Bollinger Vintage has aged much quicker than its peers and it had in the past. I can’t speak to variability of wines disgorged starting in 2013/2014 since I have no experience with them (other than a few bottles of '04 which may have been disgorged around that time).
Saint-Chamant in Epernay make wines that are very much to the “goût Anglais”.
But I wouldn’t take the 2008 Grande Année off your shopping list just yet.
I’ve got 1 bottle each of the 2002 Bollinger GA and RD that I was planning to open together for a friend. Do I need to do that this year?
I don’t see any upside to not opening them sooner rather than later.
I feel $118 for '08 Grande Annee is not much of risk to buy and try.