Bollinger is one of the most famous Champagne houses, but what most people don’t know is that Lily Bollinger was one of the original Champagne widows, like Madame Clicquot – women who took over the reins at their famous estates after the untimely passings of their husbands. Lily was a maverick for her time, and she developed late disgorged, extended lees aging wines that have become de rigeuer and highly coveted for top-quality Champagne today. She also introduced the world to Champagne from some of the last ungrafted vines in the region. But there’s so much more to her – and to this great house!

Bollinger was founded in 1829 and is known as an exceptional Pinot Noir house. Their plots are spread about the best Pinot villages in Champagne, including Aÿ, Verzenay, Avenay, and Louvois. With nearly 400 acres of vineyards spread across Champagne – almost entirely in Grand Cru and Premier Cru villages – Bollinger is perhaps unique among Champagne’s larger maisons for growing over two-thirds of all the fruit needed to make their cuvées. Two of their plots even survived phylloxera: Clos Saint Jacques and Chaudes Terres. The winemaking style of Bollinger is rather traditional, with a focus on barrel fermentations driving that rich Bollinger style. In fact, they are the last of the Grand Marques to employ a full-time cooper – a nod to the importance they place on barrel influence in their final wines. Another standout of the label is that they even do lots of hand riddling for their top cuvées, as quality is their utmost priority.

La Grande Année Rosé is one of their tête de cuvées, only made in exceptional years – and 2015 is a hallmark of a great vintage! Warm and dry, with excellently balanced and intense fruit, it’s seen as one of the best growing years in recent history. Only Premier and Grand Cru fruit go in this bottling – 62% Pinot Noir from Verzenay, Aÿ, and Mareuil-sur-Aÿ and 38% of Chardonnay from Chouilly and Avize, plus 5% red wine from La Côte aux Enfants parcel. It’s always vinified in oak barrels – another rarity in Champagne – and it’s hand riddled, with aging for seven years the lees. Then, it’s disgorged by hand, a practice rarely seen these days from the larger houses.

At last, upon opening, you might have the experience that this Champagne tastes a little bit like heaven. Dried cherries and roasted peach, as well as white pepper and mint, waft up from the glass aromatically. On the palate, juicy orchard fruits with crushed raspberries, strawberries, and rose petals, and allusions to a delicate fino sherry and light roast coffee offer up a brooding and powerful aspect to this exceptional bottling. It is a marvelous way to celebrate any special occasion on your horizon – and a deeply worthy addition to your collection! For one of the best prices on the web, this is your chance to buy now, and buy well!