The 2012 marks the second La Grande Année vintage bottled in the new bottle shape, whose narrow neck is to induce something similar to the magnum effect. Upon launch, the 2012 has 10 months of post-disgorgement time and the wine is showing elegantly restrained and youthful. On the nose the old-oak character is less prominent than in most other Bollinger vintages and the deliberate oxidation is well under control and in a supporting role. The fine, cool and pure fruitiness is at the fore with lovely spicy and nutty notes supporting. Lemony fruitiness with yellow apple and ripe apricot as well as some tropical fruit emerging in the glass. On the palate the key word is balance, the wine is very complete with freshness, intensity, refined tension and chalky salinity. 8g/l dosage is spot on. Still young but has the building blocks of longevity. For me similar in quality to the 2008 but this will come around and peak earlier.

While the 2012 Champagne La Grande Annee doesn't match the magical 2008, it's not far off and has a similar purity and elegance. Beautiful notes of white flowers, white grapefruit, salty minerality, sliced apple, and hazelnut nuances all emerge on the nose, and this beauty hits the palate with medium-bodied richness, plenty of mid-palate concentration, bright yet integrated acidity, and a beautiful finish. This gains depth and richness with time in the glass but really needs 2-4 years of bottle age and should easily evolve for 20+ years in cold cellars.

See score and full tasting note at champagneclub.com.

Disgorged in July 2019, Bollinger's 2012 Brut La Grande Année is showing well, offering up an incipiently complex bouquet of crisp yellow orchard fruit, fresh peach, orange oil, toasted walnuts and dried apricot that's still quite reserved with less than a year on cork. Full-bodied, deep and muscular, the 2012 is blockier and broader-shouldered than its 2008 predecessor, with a weightier and even more concentrated palate built around a bright spine of acidity, concluding with a chalky finish that carries appreciably dry extract. This isn't quite as elegant as the exquisite 2008, but it is a superb effort and obviously built to age.

For reports and full tasting notes, go toTim Atkin MW's website.

I love the magical moment when I get the chance, as the first journalist, to lighten the cork of the latest vintage of Bollinger La Grande Année. We have been spoiled by a trend where these beauties were released later and later. In other words, more drinkable and mature than before. The most recent legendary vintage of 2008 was admittedly extremely youthful at launch despite its high actual age. Since neither 2009, 2010 nor 2011 was considered to be a big year at the discerning Aÿ house, 2012 is thus released at the age of 7.5. It should probably be a good age to drink a wine made in a consciously oxidative style on old oak barrels, but despite its great wealth and delicious aromatic profile, I advise you to put every bottle in the cellar between 5-10 years for the greatest possible enjoyment. The wine is made from 21 villages with Aÿ and Verzenay in the driver's seat backed by elegance from Le Mesnil-sur-Oger and Oiry. The wine is characterized by vitality and energy more than depth at present. The color has a brilliant golden glow and the mousse is almost panting in its resilient youthfulness. The scent is beautifully house typical, dominated by apricot, almond, hazelnut and a smoky sophisticated intensity as from a newly lit outdoor fire. The attack is stunningly intense and the weight in the oral cavity leaves nothing left to wish for. Resilient energy and fullness are combined with greatness. Anyone who has patience will be rewarded with truffled flavor layers, chocolate saturated complexity and added exoticism of honeysuckle in the wine's bouquet.

The 2012 Grande Année is vibrant and wonderfully nuanced. Citrus peel, orchard fruit, brioche, dried flowers and chamomile are all finely knit in a Grand Année built on energy and persistence more than size. Readers will find a restrained Grand Année in 2012. There is plenty of the textural richness that is such a signature of the house style, but I am also struck by the wine's freshness. Best of all, the 2012 will drink well right out of the gate. It is quite expressive today, even in the early going. (Originally published in August 2020)

Texture is key here, with a fruit basket of indulgence tempting the senses, the predominant Pinot Noir adding plums, cherry and hints of cedar to the creamy, toasty core that has been bequeathed by the barrel fermentation. Energetic, vital and brimming with potential, its 8g/l of sugar is lightly worn. This is a seductive Grande Année, hard to resist in its youth but far from lacking gravitas and matière to secure a happy development.

Quite wild on the nose – almost like biodynamic fruit character! Really mouth-filling with savour (oak-derived?) notes and even a hint of yeast. Very distinctive. Much denser than most champagnes and probably best with food but it’s certainly very successful in the Bollinger idiom. I must look up who was the chef de cave in 2012… (JR)