Personal advice
Layer by layer, this exceptional Champagne convinces with creamy, mature fruit enjoyment, yet it is carried by a perfectly integrated acidity structure. Compared to the rather austere and closed R.D. 2002, it already shows significantly more charm and approachability today – while still possessing great future potential.
The mature fruit is less characterized by the typical apple aromas and more by lemon and mirabelle plums. There is a fine mint note, similar to a Bâtard-Montrachet from Ramonet. The palate is full, round, without any hardness. The acidity is perfectly integrated. Instead of dominant nutty notes, very subtle roasted almonds appear today. This Champagne is already pure, intense drinking pleasure today – as long as one is not explicitly waiting for the classic, strongly oxidative-nutty Bollinger notes, which will only fully develop after further years of intensive aging.
In direct comparison, it currently appears over 10 years younger than the 2004 and 2005 Grande Année. La Grande Année at the highest level!
A good growing season start without significant frosts led to an early, problem-free flowering. The summer was sunny and warm, with sufficient rain – ideal conditions for even development. In the weeks before harvest, dry, warm weather ensured concentration, berry shrivel, and very high sugar levels.
While the Chardonnays from the most famous Côte des Blancs sites sometimes turned a bit ripe and opulent, 2002 was an absolutely great Pinot Noir year. At Bollinger, Chardonnays from cooler sites (including Grauves) additionally provide the perfect acid and structure balance – the foundation for one of the most long-lived and balanced Grande Années of recent decades.
A glance at the Alfavin cellar
A glance at the Alfavin cellar
A glance at the Alfavin Cellar