Bring on the Bolly! (Bollinger Grand Annee Brut)

Member Name: Leolover

Product:	Bollinger Grand Annee Brut
Date:	09/08/02 (561 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: best Champagne ever

Disadvantages: the price - but it's worth it!

Those who've read some of my other opinions may have gathered that I'm a bit of a Champagne fan, but until recently, I'd never tried anything from possibly the most famous Champagne house - Bollinger.

I'd been told that Bollinger champagne is one of the best you'll ever taste, but I took it with a pinch of salt, as it's more expensive than most other champagnes I like, such as Lansons and Veuve Cliquot, and I'd always been quite happy sticking with those.

Recently, however, my boyfriend and a couple of our friends took me for a birthday meal at Bullochs at 116, a restaurant that's part of the Athenaeum Hotel at Mayfair, and we decided to splash out on a couple of bottles of Bollinger 1990 Grand Annee brut. Apparently, Bollinger only releases vintage champagnes in particular years when the harvest has been exceptionally good, thus the denomination Grande Annee.

Here's what it tells you about this type of Champagne on the Bollinger website :

" On average 95% of the grapes come from Premiers and Grands Crus villages. The wines are individually fermented in oak casks before blending.

On average, the blend is composed of 65% pinot noir and 35% chardonnay.

The "Grande Annee" ages for a minimum of five years in its bottle, magnum or jeroboam corked with a traditional cork. "

Right, now that the boring factual bits and pieces are over and done with, lets get to the important bit - the tasting. And...Oh my God! It was quite simply the most gorgeous alcoholic drink that's ever passed my lips. The bubbles are finer than younger champagnes, and they kind of dance on your tongue and burst into a lovely gorgeous sweet flavour, none of the slightly metallic aftertaste you sometimes get with the cheaper stuff. It gave me the usual heady tipsiness I get from champagne, but it was even better than usual as I really felt like I was treating myself to somethin
g special. I could quite easily become hooked on the stuff - it it wasn't so damned expensive!

We paid £56 per bottle in the restaurant, and I'm now searching around for a crate of the stuff that I can keep for special occasions, as it will be cheaper to buy it that way.

If you manage to track some down, I wholeheartedly recommend it - it's to die for!

Summary: