Description
Bollinger RD 2008 In Gift Box (75cl)
The 2008 is a gorgeous blend of 71% Pinot Noir and 29% Chardonnay: 90% of the fruit is from Grand Cru vineyards (and the remainder from Premier Crus) - mainly Ay and Verzenay for the Pinot Noir, and Le Mesnil-sur-Oger and Cramant for the Chardonnay. The outcome is spectacular already but will be incredibly long-lived to boot.
It's worth noting that 2008 is the first R.D. to have been aged in the "1846" Bollinger bottle. This unique shape offers beneficial properties for the quality of the wine. The idea in using the curved shape of the bottle is to get that perfect balance of a "small magnum" with a narrower neck and a wider base, to very slightly slow down the oxygen exchange and therefore give a better quality wine with longer ageing potential.
This beautiful sparkling 2008 is surprisingly light in colour, but will surely deepen towards more golden tones in the near future a little further from its fresh disgorgement date. The colossal and wonderful scent is of such dignity that words can never do it full justice. If I do try to describe this unique perfume, it is dominated by hazelnut cream from Piedmont, Domori chocolate from Venezuela, madeleine cookies, almond paste, wood sauna, gunpowder, grilled beef, duck liver, honeysuckle, mushroom cream, honey and nougat. It takes a long time in the glass before the fruit appears and at the same time the nutty and grilled aromas tone down a bit. The taste is vibrantly fresh while being rich and grilled nutty. Here, minerality and sea aromas such as iodine and oyster shells show up together with an apricot-like sublime fruitiness. After a fresh attack, my senses are left supremely satisfied with an exemplary long aftertaste of honey. 97pts Richard Juhlin
2008 is a remarkably slowly ageing vintage, thus it is laudable that Bollinger were able to lengthen RD's lees ageing from 12 to 14 years here. The house shifting to the narrow-necked new bottle shape in 2008 adds an element of interest to this launch from the super hyped harvest year. The layered nose shows cool restraint with sweet patisserie and roasted chestnut over yellow apple, lemon zest and crunchy yellow plum fruit.
Over time in the glass the charred, tobacco and nutty notes get enhanced with sweet vanilla, dried apricot and apple compote tones. On the palate the wine is as vigorous and tight as ever, with a linear and racy body leading to a long, super saline finish.
Compared to the earlier launched La Grande Année edition of the wine, there is more flesh on the bone, but the wine manages to keep its elegant crystalline transparency. No doubt the record-low 3g/L dosage contributes, as Bollinger wants to stay true to the wine. Many wondered about the short original release of La Grande Année, but Bollinger did wisely to keep back a large number of bottles for release as RD thanks to the wine's colossal ageing capacity. Even today the wine is structurally super youthful, but aromatics are already beautifully enriched by fine charred, smoky and biscuity complexity. This RD is an age-defying beauty.
Bottle disgorged 28.10.2022.
96 points with potential for 98
Essi Avellan MW
