2005 Bollinger La Grande Annee Champagne 750 ml

Despite the fact that Bollinger has made appearances in James Bond films for over 40 years, it enjoys a reputation situated above the mainstream. It seems like a deliciously well-kept secret that 94-point 2005 Bollinger La Grande Année Champagne enters your cellar below the price point of Krug, Cristal, and other top têtes de cuvée. In true “007” fashion, Wine Spectator calls it “powerful, structured and graceful” and we’ll add exceptional, world-class, a show-stopper. 

“Bollinger? If it’s a ’69 you were expecting me,” says a tantalizing James Bond in the film Moonraker. La Grande Année is an exemplary wine that needs no introduction—recognized by vintage and only released in the very best years. This is the Bollinger way—rigorous independence from forces other than excellence, a generational ethos devoted to the house style of elegance and complexity, since 1829.

The 2005 La Grande Année combines 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay from pristine Grand Cru and Premier Cru fruit off exceptional sites: vineyards in Aÿ and Verzenay deliver the Pinot Noir, while Cramant and Oger are sources for the Chardonnay. Bollinger is one of the few Champagne houses that grows most of its own grapes, farms sustainably, and even, in the case of some sites, entirely through organic viticultural practices.

The real magic begins with Bollinger’s aging of its Grande Année: vinified entirely in oak 228-liter barrels and 400-liter casks. This oak is up to 40 years old, crafted by Bollinger’s own cooper, the single remaining resident cooper in the Champagne region! The wine spent approximately six years on the lees, double the requirement. Yet another testament to Bollinger’s firm resolution to quality, patience and uncompromising excellence. And incredibly—both from a labor-intensive standpoint and an expensive practice—this Champagne undergoes secondary fermentation under cork, rather than crown capsule, requiring hand riddling and hand disgorgement—of every single bottle. 

There’s “impressive concentration and power here,” according to James Suckling. Impressive indeed, and time to lock in your cache at this price to drink like Bond into 2019 and beyond.