Made only from Grand and Premier cru grapes, La Grande Année is the embodiment of the carefully preserved traditional expertise of Champagne Bollinger.

In 1976, Bollinger Vintage was re-named Grande Année. Then in 1997, it became La Grande Année - 'The Great Year' - a name simple enough to illustrate its exceptional status, because only truly extraordinary years become vintage at Bollinger. This vintage is entirely fermented in oak barrel and is produced from fourteen crus: 91% Grand Cru and 9% Premier Cru.          

Weather: Mostly a warm year, 2007 was characterised by unexpected major weather events. A warm spring was followed by a cool summer, although the end of the ripening process was excellent, with harvests taking place in ideal conditions.     

The people of Champagne have long sought the best way to clarify wine by removing the deposit that forms over the years. To do this, they invented the very unique method of riddling: gently and gradually moving the bottle to progressively remove the sediment and guide it into the neck of the bottle.

The cellars of Champagne Bollinger are home to row upon row of wooden stands.         All Champagne houses keep a reserve of wines from previous years to add to blends for future years, if required. But none of them has taken the spirit of reserve to such levels of perfection as Bollinger...  

Behind one of its pillars, the reserve magnums, lies a tradition that dates back to 1892, the year they were first used in the assemblies of non-vintage champagnes. Over 130 years later, Special Cuvée is still the rightful heir with an assembly composed mainly of reserve wines, at least 10% of which are held in magnum, a rarity in Champagne.

Maturation: Vinified in oak barrels, sealed with natural cork and riddled by hand, this champagne has waited patiently for 10 years in Bollinger’s chalky cellars.    Champagne Bollinger has never abandoned vinification in oak, an ancient method that helps develop aromas of great finesse. After a prolonged ageing on its lees, even today every bottle of La Grande Année is riddled and disgorged by hand.