| Region | |
|---|---|
| Subregion | France > Champagne |
| Colour | Rosé |
| Type | Sparkling |
The 2018 La Grande Année Rosé is open-knit and quite caressing. It offers a bit more up-front fruit than the Blanc, suggesting it will drink well right out of the gate. The addition of 5% still red Pinot from La Côte aux Enfants and slightly higher dosage vis-à-vis the Blanc soften the contours. Cranberry, chalk, mint, white pepper and orange peel fill out the layers nicely. This vibrant, mid-weight Rosé is quite versatile; it will drink well as an aperitif or at the dinner table. The Grand Année Rosé is crafted from the same base as the Blanc. Dosage is 8 grams per liter. Drink 2027-2038.
Since its inception in 1976, this cuvée has been anchored in the white rendition of La Grande Année, complemented—this year by 5%—with red wine from La Côte aux Enfants vineyard in Aÿ. Disgorged in May 2025 with a dosage of seven grams per liter, Bollinger’s 2018 La Grande Année Rosé reveals aromas of peach, crisp red apple and blood orange mingled with redcurrant. Medium- to full-bodied, it opens with a textural attack that segues into a muscular palate, where delicate aromatic bitters gradually assert themselves along a sapid, persistent finish. While many wines from this solar vintage display comparatively soft, moderately concentrated profiles, this is not one of them. 2027-2045
A whiff of black pepper opens the aromas of toasted brioche, roasted almonds and delicate peonies. Medium-bodied with intense flavors of fresh strawberries, red fruit sorbet and wafer cookies. Delicious and lightly saline. Drink now.
Glowing rose-petal colour (although such was the decor and lighting in the Ritz dining room that all the champagnes looked a bit pink). Dense for a rosé – a serious, savoury wine with more than a hint of Campari bitters about it, but extremely refreshing as all champagne should be. Intriguing and very much up my street. Bollinger didn’t make a rosé until 2005 because Madame Lily Bollinger scorned the style but I think this is delicious! Drink: 2026-2038
Being based on the white blend of Grande Année, one would expect a family resemblance in the rosé. Indeed the vintage's friendly, approachable nature is very much still here, yet even a small red wine addition in the blend (5%) brings an energising, complexing sense of substance and structure which elevates this slightly above the white with its gentle blackcurrant, raspberry and bitter herb intensity over the recognisable sweet stone fruit, blood orange and salty, briny savour of the style. Once again it is less structured and punchy than the 2015, but arguably finer in build, well-set for delicious drinking over the next decade at least. 2026-2036.
