Hi fellow Berserkers. I’m new in vintage Champagne and thought I could get some better advices here than AIs. We’re going to open a bottle of 2008 Bollinger La Grande Année this weekend.
How to drink the wine
We will take time enjoying the wine with temperature increasing over time. Would we drink it over a couple of days?
Other wine(s) to open together
We are two of us, so will be able to open another bottle (or two if we drink over two days). What wine would be interesting to drink together with 2008 LGA? As this is almost the first time for me to taste a vintage Champagne, I’d like LGA as the main experience. Some bottles in our hands are:
NV Bollinger Special Cuvée
2016 Bollinger Coteaux Champenois La Cote Aux Enfants
Goodfellow Sparkling (WV Extra Brut, 2022 Tsai BdN, Durant BdB, Whistling Ridge BdB, Temperance Hill BdB, 2022 Whistling Ridge BdG)
Pinot Noir from Oregon/Burgundy
Food pairing
One of us is allergic to crustaceans. We can get ingredients from Wegman’s or Wholefoods. Some other items in hands include:
Bluefin Tuna from Nagasaki
Prosciutto made from Bluefin Tuna
Cheeses from Auvergne (I expect aged Salers would be a good pairing)
Chocolates from France
Half-done Mullet roe (5th day of drying, not completed)
One idea floating is truffles omelet with Wegman’s truffles. I may get some fish from Toyosu on Saturday morning.
Thanks in advance. I do not drink sparkling wines that often and when I drink sparkling wines, it is mostly Goodfellow. But I look forward to tasting LGA!
I think for the first time drinking vintage champagne it should be the only drink so you can savor and follow its revolution as it comes into more air. Uni and bubbles are my favorite pairing. Since uni is not crustaceans technically, you can try having LGA with uni and truffle over otoro. I had that combo once, super decadent and the champagne cut through the richness beautifully.
Thanks for the advice! Uni and truffle on Otoro…I do have Uni and Otoro, and I can get truffle from Wegman’s. Sounds so easy. Speaking of that, I just had caviar on Otoro this afternoon at a sparkling Sake event. It was super!
Great choice with the Bollinger 08 LGA, it’s such a great reference point champagne for the house.
I’d open alongside the NV Special Cuvée to better understand the house style and appreciate the difference between vintage and NV. Drink the special first, then the LGA.
Avoid the champenois. Great wine, but it’s in a different realm of experience, and not necessarily the best complement to the bubbles, especially since you seem to want to understand what vintage champagnes is all about. Same for the others since they are all great bottles, but may be distractions rather than additive to your understanding.
Food options recommended seem good, but leave the chocolate for another time, they will not go well with these bubbles
