Champagne Collector

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If it’s good enough for James Bond, it’s good enough for you. Bollinger Champagne has made a number of cameos in James Bond films over the year. This non-vintage Special Cuvée is an example of a classic Champagne done well. Notes of marzipan on the nose and the palate give toastiness and leesy notes, specifically sourdough. It’s classic for a reason and would only elevate any table it finds itself on.Decanter Magazine | 95 DECFine and seamless, with mouthwatering acidity well-meshed with a rich range of crème de cassis, poached apricot, gingerbread and almond extract flavors, plus accents of fleur de sel, Meyer lemon peel and star anise. Long and lively on the creamy finish. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier. Drink now through 2028. 14,257 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 93 WSThe NV Champagne Special Cuvée (60% Pinot Noir and based on the 2021 harvest) pours a bright yellow/silver hue on opening and reveals a fresh and actually more mineral-driven profile on the nose than I was expecting, revealing layers of fresh raspberries, brioche, wet stone, and orange blossoms. The palate is medium to full-bodied and classically rounded, as you would come to expect from this house, but it retains good tension and a silky, chalky texture, with an ultra-fine mousse, salinity in its notes of grapefruit zest and almond, and a creamy texture through the finish. It’s very well-styled and is going to drink well over the next 10 years. They always try to have 8-10 vintages the blend, the oldest being 18 years (15 years when it goes into the bottle). 8 grams per liter dosage.Jeb Dunnuck | 93+ JDRestrained and very pretty aromas include those of yeast, Meyer lemon, petrol and green apple where the latter element is picked up by the utterly delicious, vibrant and detailed flavors that possess fine complexity on the agreeably dry but not austere finish. The supporting mousse is dense but fine and overall, this is a wine that could be enjoyed now or held for up to a decade. Excellent.Burghound | 93 BHBollinger’s NV Special Cuvée 007 is not a re-release of the 1969, which James Bond famously mentions in the film ’Moonraker,’ but it is a pretty wine that captures the essence of the house style nicely, attractively packaged to coincide with the latest Bond movie. It offers up scents of orchard fruit, baked apple tart, brioche, spice and dried floral notes, all in a profile that holds plenty of near term appeal.James Suckling | 93 JSLike its rosé counterpart, the latest release of Bollinger’s NV Brut Special Cuvée is showing especially well, bursting from the glass with aromas of honeyed apples, crisp stone fruit, buttery pastry, ripe lemons and fresh walnuts. Medium to full-bodied, fleshy and vinous, with a deep core of beautifully ripe fruit, racy acids and a pillowy mousse, it’s a charming, characterful wine that proves that Special Cuvée is firmly back where it belongs.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92 RPThe new release of Bollinger’s “Cuvée Spéciale” non-vintage Brut is crafted from its customary cépages of sixty percent pinot noir, twenty-five percent chardonnay and fifteen percent pinot meunier, with thirty percent of the vins clairs fermented in casks for this bottling. As is typical for this bottling, it was aged thirty to thirty-six months sur lattes and the final blend includes fifty percent reserve wines. It offers up a refined bouquet of apple, peach, fresh-baked bread, chalky soil tones, gentle smokiness and a topnote of dried flowers. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied, focused and complex, with a lovely core of fruit, good mineral undertow, elegant mousse and a long, crisp and beautifully balanced finish. Fine juice that will age gracefully and be an even more interesting drink five to ten years down the road. (Drink between 2024 - 2045)John Gilman | 91+ JG

This is the 245th blend of Roederer’s non-vintage Champagne. It is a fine wine, highlighting the blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, bringing in reserve wines to give richness and balance. It is fresh, beginning to show signs of maturity, with an apple aroma and a ripe palate. Drink now.Wine Enthusiast | 94 WEThe bright straw-colored NV Champagne Collection 245 is juicy and ripe, revealing notes of ripe, fresh peaches and bread, with a chalky, elegant texture and a pinpoint, refined mousse. This medium-bodied Champagne continues to impress and is an outstanding value to drink now or over the next 10-15 years. Drink 2025-2040.Jeb Dunnuck | 93 JDRestrained green apple, lemon bush and lime, plus light brioche and chalk. Medium to full body with fine, nicely persistent bubbles and good substance on the mid-palate. Almost biting yet polished at the end, with long, refreshing acidity. Lacks a bit of complexity at the moment, but fresh. Best from 2025.James Suckling | 93 JSThe newly-arrived release of the Louis Roederer “Collection 245” is from the base year of 2020, which comprises fifty-five percent of the blend this year. The remaining forty-five percent of the cuvée this year is split between wines from the solera started by Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon in 2012 for this bottling and which constitute thirty-five percent of the blend. The remaining ten percent made up of reserve wines that the maison has in the cellar for their other non-vintage cuvées. The final cépages ended up being forty-one percent chardonnay, thirty-five percent pinot noir and twenty-four percent pinot meunier. The wine was aged sur lattes for just under four years and finished with a dosage of seven grams per liter. Only twenty-two percent of the vins clairs this year went through malo for the wine. The bouquet is pure, precise and still youthful, offering up scents of apple, fresh apricot, lemon, bread dough, chalky minerality, dried flowers and the first hints of smokiness in the upper register. On the palate the wine is crisp, full-bodied, mineral-driven and beautifully zesty, with a superb core of fruit, elegant mousse, a lovely spine of acidity and fine focus and balance on the long, complex and elegant finish. This is a beautiful wine and if any other Grandes Marques is making non-vintage Brut at this quality level these days, I am unaware of it! Fine juice. (Drink between 2025-2055)John Gilman | 93 JGBased on the 2020 vintage, Louis Roederer’s NV Brut Collection 245 is stylistically somewhat comparable to the two previous editions, which were based on the 2018 and 2019 vintages. Jean-Baptiste Lecaillon explains that the personality of the wine will change depending on the base year. By identifying the wine with a number, they do not intend to produce the same profile year in and year out, but rather, they will embrace the singularity of each vintage, accepting the different personalities of the base year. It is complemented by a perpetual reserve initiated in 2012, which is stored in large tanks without lees; the reserve provides balance to the warm years like this, as the perpetual component did not go through malolactic fermentation. While a considerable portion of the fruit comes from Louis Roederer’s own estates, for this bottling, the blend incorporates purchased fruit as well, particularly Pinot Meunier, which they do not own. Including approximately 43% Chardonnay, the new Brut Collection offers notes of pear, peach and candied orange zest. On the palate, it is medium to full-bodied, textural and fleshy, laden with vibrant acidity and concluding with a nicely defined, delicately saline finish, even with 7.5 grams per liter dosage.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92 RPA mineral-driven version, with an airy, chalky-textured mousse. Deftly integrates hints of smoke and oyster shell with flavors of yellow plum, Gala apple, honeysuckle and salted almond. Refined and persistent on the finish. Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Meunier. Drink now. 15,000 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 92 WS

This is really something. Electric on the palate. The aromas are so complex with sliced fresh and dried ginger, subtle pie crust, tarte tatin and hints of nutmeg with some salted caramel. Toasted bread, too. Always subtle. The palate is full- to medium-bodied yet hemmed-in with a freshness and balance that draws you back. Savory and vibrant. It’s full of energy. Spectacular. Fascinating. Symphonic blend of 2012, 2008 and 2007. 65% of the 2012, 25% of the 2008 and 10% of the 2007. Eight grand cru. Chardonnay 58% and 42% pinot noir. Disgorged February 2023. 10 years on the lees. 7g/L dosage. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 100 JSA blend of the 2012, 2008 and 2007 vintages, the NV Brut Grand Siècle #26 won’t be released for another four or five years, but there is a great deal to anticipate, as it’s a stunning young wine in the making. Unfurling in the glass with scents of crisp nectarine, pear and honeyed citrus fruit that mingle with notions of fresh mint, blanched almonds and iodine, the wine is full-bodied, concentrated and tightly wound, with broad structural shoulders, tangy acids and a long, intense finish. It’s a great Grand Siècle in the making.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 96 RPThis iteration of Grand Siècle is almost entirely composed of two of Champagne’s greatest recent vintages, so expectations are high. The wine more than meets them, tempering the generosity of 2012’s fruit – ripe apricots, white peach, clementines and sunny, zesty citrus – with a pitch-perfect streak of 2008 tautness and structure. There are some fleshy, creamy notes of papaya and toasted white sourdough, but everything is as delicately rendered as expected and impeccably shaped, with a sleek, silky mousse. A little more approachable than Itération No. 25, it will welcome extended bottle age rather than demand it. The blend is 58% Chardonnay and 42% Pinot Noir from eight grand cru vineyards. 65% is from the 2012 vintage, 35% from 2008 and 10% from 2007.Decanter | 96 DECA graceful Champagne, with flavors of boysenberry and black cherry fruit, toast, blanched almond and grapefruit pith, graphite and fleur de sel gliding across the satiny mousse. Reveals racy acidity that sculpts fine definition, allowing the detailed profile to expand on the palate, while minerally hints of chalk and oyster shell linger on the finish. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Drink now through 2030.Wine Spectator | 95 WSThe NV Grande Cuvée Grand Siècle No. 26, a blend of 2012, 2008 and 2007, is absolutely gorgeous. Dried pear, smoke, crushed rocks and mint infuse a super-expressive, creamy Grand Siècle built on textural richness and resonance, with Chardonnay brightness very much front and center. I tasted the no. 26 from a trial disgorgement. Even in the early going, it is extremely promising.Vinous Media | 94-96 VM

The NV Champagne Grand Cru Blanc De Blancs Substance is the only wine in the range from Selosse that is produced in a true solera system, with criadera, and this release has the addition of the 2016 vintage going into the cuvée. The nose offers fantastic layered depth framed by a minty freshness lifting from the glass, along with notes of fresh apricot, marzipan, citrus oils, and wet stones. The palate is textural with a core of rich sapidity and buoyant acidity that creates a weightless and impeccably balanced feel throughout. The mousse is fine, but the wine’s savory texture takes the lead. It’s going to drink well now or over the coming 20 years. Disgorged in February 2024.Jeb Dunnuck | 96 JD

(roughly 55% chardonnay and 45% pinot noir, from three different vintages that the producer won’t disclose; L13PZ109360): Bright yellow-gold. A heady, mineral-tinged bouquet evokes dried pear, buttery brioche, lemon curd and anise, plus a smoky topnote. Chewy and expansive on the palate, offering concentrated orchard and pit fruit flavors and a touch of bitter quinine. The smoky note repeats on the finish, which shows impressive clarity and mineral-driven persistence.Vinous Media | 93 VMThe brioche and cooked-apple and cream character really comes through here. Full-bodied and round with fine bubbles. Flavorful and intense. Vivid, bread-dough finish. This is four years on lees. 55% chardonnay and the rest pinot.James Suckling | 93 JSThe latest rendition of Laurent-Perrier’s NV Brut is showing nicely, wafting from the glass with scents of almond paste, iodine, white peach, warm biscuits and mandarin. On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied, with an elegant, lively profile, displaying a youthfully frothy mousse, good tension at the core and an attractively chalky finish. This is an excellent non-vintage wine that seems to reflect the maison’s efforts to improve their grape sourcing over the last few years.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 91 RPA delicate Champagne, with a refined mousse and finely honed acidity, this offers a subtle range of black currant, lemon zest, toast and chalk flavors that linger on the lightly spiced finish. Drink now through 2020.Wine Spectator | 91 WSThis is smooth and softly textured wine. With its relatively high dosage and creamy texture, this standard nonvintage cuvée is immediately accessible and delicious. Great fruit makes it a great aperitif style of Champagne.Wine Enthusiast | 90 WEThis wine’s fresh fruit and firm structure match bright lemon zest flavors with limestone severity. The fine bubbles add to the clean sensation of the finish. It’s spicy, tight and formidable, a wine to kick-start a dinner party. Best Buy.Wine & Spirits | 90 W&S