1996 Bollinger La Grande Année
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Tasting notes
From magnum, Bollinger's 1996 La Grande Année is showing superbly, offering aromas of candied orange, peach and iodine mingled with rye bread, praline and roasted cacao bean. On the palate, it is medium- to full-bodied, with taut musculature and the cool profile typical of the vintage, laden with incisive acidity and framed by considerable structuring dry extract, leading into a precise, chalky finish. Complemented by a pinpoint mousse, it shows greater freshness in magnum than in the standard bottle format and still has many years ahead of it. Stylistically, it is unmistakably 1996, but given the house’s decision to harvest late in this high-acid vintage, it is more harmonious than many other examples from the year. Disgorged around 2002, it carries a dosage of seven grams per liter.
Critic scores
John Gilman, View From The Cellar
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
Deep gold. The first bottle tasted much older than 1996 and had rather a shortage of fruit and a very dry finish. It wasn't particularly fizzy either. A second bottle, from the same case, was very much better with much more carbon dioxide, fruit and energy. Racy, even a little creamy. Definite evolution on the nose and still a pretty dry finish. Better than some of the most austere 1996s but not absolutely glorious. (JR)
Creamy, evolved flattering nose. Sweet and rich and lemon cream palate – not especially champagne-like in fact. Clean, brisk finish. Good, racy finish. (JR)
Medium yellow color. Brooding aromas of pineapple, pine needles, toffee and nuts. Dense, full and quite dry, with penetrating fruit, hints of oak spice, and powerful acids that have not yet come into harmony. But this extremely impressive young Bollinger vintage shifts into a higher gear on the back end, showing even more flavor intensity than it does in the middle palate. This boasts the near-freakish combination of high ripeness and high acidity shared by the best '96s. Builds and builds on the back; one must practically scrape this off the palate. A worthy follow-up to the '95, and likely to develop in bottle for a couple of decades. (ST) 93+
About the producer
Bollinger is one of the most renowned and coveted Champagne Houses in the world, famous for its Pinot-Noir-dominant wines, in particular La Grande Année and the rare Vieilles Vignes Françaises (from pre-phylloxera vines).