Bollinger, La Grande Année Rosé, 2018
Bollinger, La Grande Année Rosé, 2018
- 75cl
- 12.5%
- Rosé Sparkling
- Pinot Noir, Chardonnay
Couldn't load pickup availability
Optimal drinking window: 2026 - 2045
Est. delivery in autumn, 2026
La Grande Année Rosé is Bollinger's prestige pink, and the 2018 is a serious argument for taking Champagne rosé every bit as seriously as the blanc.
Made predominantly from Pinot Noir with a portion of still red wine from the Côte aux Enfants — Bollinger's own grand cru parcel in Aÿ — it has all the structure and vinous weight you'd expect from this house, but with an added dimension of red fruit vivacity and presence that makes it genuinely exciting to drink right now.
What the critics say:
"The 2018 La Grande Année Rosé is open-knit and quite caressing. It offers a bit more up-front fruit than the Blanc, suggesting it will drink well right out of the gate. The addition of 5% still red Pinot from La Côte aux Enfants and slightly higher dosage vis-à-vis the Blanc soften the contours. Cranberry, chalk, mint, white pepper and orange peel fill out the layers nicely. This vibrant, mid-weight Rosé is quite versatile; it will drink well as an aperitif or at the dinner table. The Grand Année Rosé is crafted from the same base as the Blanc. Dosage is 8 grams per liter. Disgorged: May 2025."
"Since its inception in 1976, this cuvée has been anchored in the white rendition of La Grande Année, complemented—this year by 5%—with red wine from La Côte aux Enfants vineyard in Aÿ. Disgorged in May 2025 with a dosage of seven grams per liter, Bollinger’s 2018 La Grande Année Rosé reveals aromas of peach, crisp red apple and blood orange mingled with redcurrant. Medium- to full-bodied, it opens with a textural attack that segues into a muscular palate, where delicate aromatic bitters gradually assert themselves along a sapid, persistent finish. While many wines from this solar vintage display comparatively soft, moderately concentrated profiles, this is not one of them."
La Grande Année draws fruit primarily from Bollinger's grand cru and premier cru parcels around Aÿ, Verzenay, and Louvois, where deep chalk subsoils beneath thin topsoil provide exceptional natural drainage and that characteristic mineral tension in the wines. The Côte aux Enfants in Aÿ, the source of the still red wine blended into this rosé, sits on south-facing slopes that ripen Pinot Noir to rare levels of concentration whilst retaining the acidity that makes the wine age. The continental climate of the Marne Valley means vintage variation is genuine and meaningful here — the 2018 season was warm and generous, producing grapes of exceptional phenolic maturity.
Champagne AOC is the most tightly regulated sparkling wine appellation in the world, covering around 34,000 hectares in northeast France and governed by rules that dictate everything from permitted grape varieties and yields to minimum ageing times on lees. Prestige cuvées like La Grande Année are not defined by the appellation's rules per se but by each house's own standards, typically requiring several years of additional ageing before release. The classification of individual villages as grand cru or premier cru — based on the échelle des crus system — remains the key indicator of raw material quality within the region, and Bollinger draws almost exclusively from the top tier.
The 2018 growing season in Champagne arrived like a gift after several challenging years. Spring brought warm, dry conditions that encouraged healthy flowering, followed by a summer that stayed remarkably consistent without the extreme heat spikes that can shut down photosynthesis. Rain arrived precisely when the vines needed it in late summer, plumping the grapes without diluting their flavour concentration. The harvest began in late August under sunny skies, with growers reporting some of the healthiest fruit they'd seen in years.
What emerged from this kindness was a vintage that marries immediate charm with serious structure. The Chardonnay shows beautiful purity and tension without the sometimes austere backbone of cooler years, while Pinot Noir developed lovely depth of colour and ripe red fruit character that speaks clearly through the bubbles. We find these wines drinking beautifully now, offering both the fresh exuberance that makes Champagne so joyful and the underlying complexity that will reward patience. Most 2018s will hit their stride over the next five to eight years, though the finest cuvées have the backbone to age gracefully well beyond that.
Explore related wines
-
-
Speak to one of our Wine Gurus
Speak to a Wine GuruWith years of experience, our team can help you with all your wine buying and selling needs