Bollinger La Grande Année Rosé 2015

Bollinger's 2015 Brut La Grande Année Rosé was disgorged in May last year with seven grams per liter dosage. Offering up deep aromas of orchard fruits, blood orange, mandarin rind and peach mingled with nuances of coffee, praline and fino sherry, it's medium to full-bodied, pillowy and layered, with a broad attack that segues into a vinous palate framed by high levels of structuring dry extract that makes its presence felt on the sapid, nutty and penetrating finish. Given the skin maturity and inherent structure of the year, the Bollinger team elected to include only 4.5% of still red wine in the blend, a comparatively low percentage.

This elegant, medium-bodied rosé includes select plots of pinot noir from the Cote Aux Enfants vineyard. It shows a medium orange-amber color, dark cherry-skin and candied-plum aromas followed by vivid strawberry and blood-orange flavors. Marked by finesse, light but very flavorful, complex and layered. Drink or hold.

This rosé has much in common with the forward, bold release of La Grande Année blanc, as the wines share 95% of their blend. The 5% red wine from La Côte aux Enfants that goes into this rosé, though, adds a light touch of red apple, strawberry and rosehip, playing on some of the bay leaf spice in the blend while adding an extra dose of structure and apple skin bite on the palate. This is a structured but engaging rosé that could promise its best – and reveal a little more of its creamy, nougat richness - with further ageing. 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay from the Montagne de Reims, Grande Vallée de la Marne and Côte des Blancs, with 5% red Pinot Noir addition, all fermented in small oak barrels and disgorged in May 2023 after seven years on lees.