Bollinger RD 2004

The Most Important in Brief

Especially if you open it three to four hours in advance, you experience a wonderful tasting pleasure.

The bouquet offers a complex spectrum of fruit notes: Tarte Tatin, poached quince, mirabelle, dried apricot, and pear. Yeasty brioche, hazelnut, almond, honey, caramel, espresso lie in deeper layers, along with floral accents like acacia blossom.

The palate combines creamy, buttery fullness with precise minerality and lively but harmonious acidity, leading into a long finish.

Peach compote, apple tart, caramel, roasted nuts, and an earthy Pinot Noir note of mushrooms on wet forest floor shape the aromatic palate. The finish is majestically long, salty-persistent, with almond and white pepper.

R.D. 2004 combines silky fullness, fine mousse, and refreshingly prickling minerality. It is a perfect example of why R.D. is so special for connoisseurs.

Ratings (Selection, as of 2026)

• Richard Juhlin (Champagne Club): 96 (96) points – highly praised for balance, creaminess, chocolate/nut undertones, and longevity.
• Wine Enthusiast: 98 points (Top 100 Cellar Selections 2019) – "highly elegant and complex, weightless yet persistent and salty, intense, densely woven, firmly structured yet elegant".
• Wine Spectator: 96 points – "airy and ethereal in texture", with Poached Quince, Fleur de Sel, White Cherry, Lemon Pith, Almond Skin.
• Jancis Robinson / Others: 18+ / high – "magnificent mint-toned freshness", "beautifully refined and refreshing recent disgorgement".
• CellarTracker / Community: Average ~94–96 – many recent notes (2024–2025) praise the youthfulness and complexity.

Conclusion: Bollinger R.D. 2004 is one of the best R.D. of all time

The 2004 Vintage in Champagne

After a very early and good growing season start (plenty of sun in spring), a wet, cool July followed with hail damage in some areas.

August was overcast and cool, slowing ripening and initially threatening yields.

September and October then brought sunny, dry weather, leading to slowly ripening grapes with perfect maturity and high acidity.

Yields were very high, averaging over 20,000 kg of grapes per hectare. Bollinger was still able to produce wines of substance and depth through selective thinning of excess green grapes.