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The 2008 La Grande Année is another brilliant 2008 that delivers the goods. Straight-up awesome notes of stone fruits, white flowers, honeysuckle, and an incredible, liquid rock-like minerality all emerge from the glass, and it develops more nuance, spice, toasted bread, and an almost Alsatian Riesling-like petrol character over the course of the evening. It’s a full-bodied, rich, powerful Champagne, yet like the top 2008s, it has brilliant precision, purity, and focus. It’s unquestionably one of the finest versions of this cuvée ever produced, although it needs another 4-5 years of bottle age to hit prime time. It should keep for 3-4 decades. Bravo!Jeb Dunnuck | 99 JDBollinger’s 2008 La Grande Année is superb, wafting from the glass with aromas of crisp orchard fruit, ripe lemons, honeycomb, warm biscuits, dried white flowers and a delicate top note of walnuts and fino sherry. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, broad and vinous, with a beautifully refined mousse, superb concentration at the tightly wound core, incisive acids and a supremely elegant intermingling of Bollinger’s oxidative stylistic signatures with fresh, vibrant fruit. The finish is long, precise and chalky. This is a Grande Année built for the cellar—the real excitement will come with a bit more bottle age—but this is already a thrilling Champagne in the making. Finished with eight grams per liter dosage, it was disgorged by hand in July 2018. This is also the first vintage of Grande Année to be bottled in Bollinger’s new narrower-necked 1846 bottle, which should make for a slower evolving wine.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 97+ RPBollinger’s 2008 Grande Année is rich, ample and full-bodied, with all of the pedigree of the vintage on display. Dried pear, dried flowers, chamomile, red plum and mint develop as the 2008 shows the breadth and creaminess that are such signatures of the Bollinger house style. A whole range of brighter, more floral and chalky notes appear later, adding translucence and energy. The 2008 is 71% Pinot Noir and 29% Chardonnay taken across 18 crus, and it is the Pinot that very much informs the wine in both flavor and texture. More importantly, the 2008 is one of the best Grande Années I can remember tasting. Bollinger fans won’t want to miss it. Disgorged November 2018. Dosage is 8 grams per liter.Antonio Galloni | 97 AGGilles Descôtes blends this from 18 crus, pinot noir making up 71 percent of the blend (mostly from Aÿ and Verzenay), the balance from chardonnay (focused on Le Mesnil-sur-Oger and Cramant). The base wine ferments in oak barrels, adding to this Champagne’s concentrated power. Its dark intensity has the coolness of Bollinger’s deep aging cellars, even as the wine sustains delicate notes of wildflowers, morels and the perfumed grace of pinot noir. Massive and still youthful, the flavors rounded into a sphere, this is a wine to cellar. Vintus, Pleasantville, NYWine & Spirits | 97 W&SEnticing hints of toasted cumin, ground anise and graphite waft from the glass of this harmonious, mouthwatering version, accenting the finely meshed flavors of crushed black currant, poached apricot, grilled nut and lemon curd. The texture shows a lovely viscosity, extending the flavor range, which expands on the lasting finish. Disgorged June 2018. Drink now through 2033. 833 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 96 WSPinot Noir, mainly from Aÿ and Verzenay, dominates the blend here (71%). Only the free-run juice is used for the fermentation in cask. After ageing under cork for more than nine years, it was disgorged with a dosage of 8g/L. The impression is youthful and fresh, with bright apple and spice notes and a hint of buttered toast. The texture is creamy and dense but very lively and very long. This is superb wine that will age for decades to come. (Drink between 2021-2041)Decanter | 96 DECA wonderfully elegant, pure and airy nose is beautifully layered with its pretty array of green apple, pear, white flower, rose petal, yeast and plenty of citrus elements. The elegance continues on the racy and intense flavors that are supported by a very fine mousse that imparts a lilting mouth feel to the notably dry, crisp and strikingly complex finale. This is an absolute knockout and a wine that should age for a very long time but because the complexity is so impressive, it could actually be enjoyed now. Even so, I will stash my bottles away for at least another 4 to 5 years.Burghound | 95 BHThis is the producer’s equivalent of a Vintage Champagne. Fermented and aged in wood and then kept for nine years before release, this wine comes from an exceptional vintage that manages to combine ripe fruit and acidity, meaning the wine can age extraordinarily well. Although the wine is just ready, it will be much better from 2022 and for many years after.Wine Enthusiast | 95 WE

The 2008 Dom Pérignon is the first time the estate has released a wine out of order (the 2009 was released before the 2008) but the estate loved the wine so much they felt it warranted additional aging. This is a rich, powerful wine that still shows incredible purity and elegance, with a stacked, concentrated feel on the palate. It’s rare to find such a mix of ripe, pure, concentrated fruit paired with this level of purity, focus, and precision. This is a legendary Dom that surpasses all the great vintages of Dom I have experience with, including the 1990, 1996, and 2002.Jeb Dunnuck | 98 JDThe best Dom since 2002. A vintage with very restrained, powerful style that has been released non-sequentially after the 2009. This has a lighter stamp of highly curated, autolytic, toasty aromas than many recent releases. Instead, this delivers super fresh and intense aromas of lemons, grapefruit and blood-orange peel. Incredible freshness here. The palate has a very smoothly delivered, berry-pastry thread with light, sweet spices, stone fruit and fine citrus fruit. This really delivers.James Suckling | 98 JSThe 2008 Dom Pérignon is once again stunning. More than anything else, I am surprised by how well the 2008 drinks given all the tension and energy it holds. Then again, that is precisely what makes 2008 such a unique vintage – namely that the best wines are so chiseled and yet not at all austere. Lemon peel, almond, mint, smoke and crushed rocks are all finely sculpted, but it is the wine’s textural feel, drive and persistence that elevate it into the realm of the sublime. The 2008 will be even better with time in the cellar, but it is absolutely phenomenal even today, in the early going. Three recent bottles have all been nothing short of magnificent.Vinous Media | 98 VM(Dom Pérignon Brut Millésime (Épernay)) I had not tasted a bottle of the 2008 vintage of Dom Pérignon since my interview with Richard Geoffroy at the abbey in Hautvillers just a few months before Monsieur Geoffroy retired. I was very happy to see it generously added by John Chapman to our lineup for the second Vega Sicilia vertical that I reported on in the previous issue, as it is a wine of the same superb quality as all those great old Únicos. As I noted in my feature on Dom Pérignon, the 2008 is an absolutely classic vintage for this wine, which means it is structured, structured, structured, and at twelve years of age, still an absolute infant! The primary bouquet offers up a promising blend of apple, lime peel, menthol, superb minerality, a touch of young DP botanicals and tons of upper register smokiness. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and rock solid at the core, with brisk acids, refined mousse, bruising backend mineral drive and a very long, very pure and seamlessly balanced finish. I scored this a touch lower than the bottle in Hautvillers, but I suspect that this is just the result of context and the wine has not lost any of its luster- it has only hidden its essence even further behind its electric girdle of acidity. This is years away from its apogee, but has utterly brilliant potential. (Drink between 2030-2075).John Gilman | 96+ JGDeparting chef de caves Richard Geoffroy says that 2008 is his best DP vintage since 1990. The first half of the growing season was dull and sunless, but good weather returned in mid-September and led to one of the longest harvests, running into October. The summer provided ideal conditions for a classic, cool, maritime vintage of exceptional, subtle aromas with minerality and freshness. This has a vibrant but controlled acidity, and is above all a memorable symbiosis of mature fruit and salinity derived from top terroirs. The poised mouthfeel makes this a perfect gastronomic wine, strong enough for spicy Asian cuisine from the Pacific rim, but still compatible with classics such as roast turbot and lobster.Decanter | 96 DECThere’s power to this graceful Champagne, with the vivid acidity swathed in a fine, creamy mousse and flavors of toasted brioche, kumquat, pastry cream, candied ginger and poached plum that dance across the palate. An underpinning of smoky mineral gains momentum on the lasting finish.Wine Spectator | 96 WSThe 2008 Dom Pérignon continues to show very well, offering up a pretty bouquet of Anjou pear, fresh peach, citrus oil, fresh pastry, smoke and iodine. On the palate, it's full-bodied, lively and incisive, with an elegantly textural attack and a creamy core of fruit that's underpinned by a bright but nicely integrated spine of acidity. The finish is long, saline and well-defined. As I wrote earlier this year, this is the finest Dom Pérignon since 1996, Richard Geoffroy's push for additional ripeness working well with the late-maturing, high-acid vintage. While it can be appreciated young, the 2008 will really start to blossom with five or six years of bottle age.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95+ RP

Amazing aromas of sweet uncooked pie crust with almonds. Then you smell dried apples, apricots and pineapple. Grilled fruits, too. Full-bodied. So tangy and energetic with sizzling acidity and creamy tannins. Flavorful and lightly oxidized at the finish. Smacking my lips. Agile. Ginger and spices. A touch of bitter complexity with some salinity. Extreme character that grabs your attention. 13 years and six months aging on the lees with cork. 3 grams dosage. 71% pinot noir and 29% chardonnay. Don’t serve too cold. Drink or hold.JS | 99 JSWhen I was tasting Bollinger’s brilliant Grande Année in this vintage, I was trying to imagine how good the 2008 Extra-Brut R. D. would be, as the style of the vintage seems almost perfectly adapted to this cuvée. Four years later, we have the answer, and the wine is brilliant. Disgorged in 2022, it’s more reserved out of the gates than the dramatic Grande Année was on release, unwinding in the glass with notes of crisp orchard fruit, orange peel, freshly baked bread, subtle hints of fino sherry, wet stones and macadamia nut. On the palate, it’s medium to full-bodied, with a deep core of fruit that’s animated by racy acids and a refined pinpoint mousse, concluding with a bone-dry finish. Extremely harmonious and full of youthful energy, it’s the finest R. D. of the decade and one that will richly reward a bit of additional age on cork. In style, the most obvious comparison is with the 1996, but the 2008 is more integrated and harmonious on release. These bottles were disgorged late last year with three grams per liter dosage.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 98+ RPThe 2008 Champagne R.D. Extra Brut is chiseled, powerful, and packaged with a chalky mineral texture. Made from 70% Pinot Noir and the rest Chardonnay, with 3 grams per liter dosage, it pours a bright straw yellow hue, while its aromatics are more mineral-tinged and feel a touch more noble and upright in character. Aromatically, it opens to notes of toasted almond, preserved Meyer lemon, brothy saline, and vibrant fresh fruit. Displaying tension and grace, it has the richness of Bollinger but is more upright, with an electric mineral energy that courses through the finish, which lasts for days. Mouthwatering and long, it’s a stunner. It needs more time to harmonize all its components, but this is a wine to cellar for the ages, and I think this is going to be a vintage of RD we talk about for a very, very long time. Cellar it if you can and drink 2026-2056. Disgorged December 2022.Jeb Dunnuck | 98 JDEmerging like a genie from a bottle, so full of life and magic, the Bollinger R.D. 2008 unwinds gradually to reveal aromatic layer after layer of white peach, Meyer lemon confit, kumquat, wafer cookies, wet stones and acacia honey intermingling with bready and faintly oxidative, nutty notes. Medium to full-bodied and full of high-toned energy, the palate is wonderfully silky and lithe with a super fine, creamy mousse full of stimulating acid freshness, exquisite saline intensity, and a chalky finish with a beautiful citrus peel note. A blend of 66% Pinot Noir and 34% Chardonnay, it was disgorged 09 December 2022 and finished Extra Brut with a three gram per liter dosage. As beautiful as it is now, it has many years of excellent drinking ahead.The Wine Independent | 98+ TWIThis focused Champagne is all about the graceful definition of power, with an up-front, austere edge to the steely acidity, which is softened by the fine, plush mousse and well-integrated with the rich profile. Toasted hazelnut, crystallized honey, peach skin and nectarine flavors expand on the palate, accented by hints of ground ginger, oyster shell and preserved lemon, with a racy streak of salinity that drives the mouthwatering finish. Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Disgorged October 2022. Drink now through 2038. 300 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 97 WSBright in colour with gold reflections, the aromatics are immediately captivating, with marzipan, acacia, apricot and patisserie all vying for attention. It’s impossibly youthful yet reassuringly mature, a bread basket of delicious contradiction. Cerebral seduction ensues on the palate, with dried fruits, bergamot and lime joining the party, then come the hazelnut notes – which have been identified as a leitmotif for the vintage – and a clean, almost chalky finish to restore rigorous harmony. Precision in no way undermines generosity, and generosity in no way undermines potential. A very fine piece of work all in all, tasted from magnum, alongside bottle and jeroboam. Disgorged: November 2022. Dosage: 3g/L.Decanter | 97 DECBollinger’s 2008 R.D. is a powerful, vinous Champagne. Apricot, dried pear, tangerine oil, hazelnut, dried flowers, chamomile and brioche all race across the palate. The 2008 boasts notable depth and textural intensity, with a feeling of phenolic, almost tannin-driven grip from the Pinot that propels the finish.At times the R.D. is quite exotic, even if there is a good kick of energy from the bright, salivating acids and low dosage. The 2008 R.D. is very much a Champagne for the dinner table, a wine that benefits immensely from aeration. In 2008, the blend comprises fruit from 18 villages, 71% Pinot Noir, mostly from Aÿ and Verzenay and 29% Chardonnay, mostly from Mesnil-sur-Oger and Cramant. Dosage is 3 grams of dosage. I would give this a few more years in bottle to fully come together. Disgorged: October 28, 2022.Vinous Media | 96 VMNo written review provided. | 95 W&SHere too the slightly more expressive nose is wonderfully complex with its aromas of citrus peel, yeast, acacia and a vague hint of red fruit, in particular strawberry. There is excellent volume and richness to the full-bodied flavors as the long aging on the lees is very much in evidence on the moderately dry, powerful and equally complex finale. For my taste this is largely mature and while it will hold for several more decades, I don’t see much if any further upside development potential.Burghound | 94 BH

This shows incredible depth of fruit with strawberry, cherry and phenolics. Full-bodied and layered with an incredible, three-dimensional element to the wine. This is so transparent and dynamic with dark fruit, yet it remains vivid and bright. Refined and precise, it goes on and on. Really savory, fresh and incredibly pinot-noir-like. What a wine. 13 years of maturation in the bottle. So drinkable now, but it will age for many years ahead.James Suckling | 99 JSThe newly released 2008 Dom Pérignon Rosé is a dramatic, perfumed wine, bursting with aromas of blood orange, iodine, sweet citrus fruit, peach and pear mingled with hints of buttered toast, smoke and spices. Full-bodied, textural and enveloping, with terrific concentration, racy acids and a pillowy mousse, it concludes with a long, penetrating finish. It derives its intense hue from red wine produced from Pinot Noir grown in lieux-dits Chants de Linottes in Hautvillers and Vauzelles in Aÿ.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 97 RPThe 2008 Dom Pérignon Rosé is magnificent. Rich and deep in the glass, the 2008 offers up an exotic mélange of aromas and flavors. Sweet red cherry, mint, orange peel and rose petal all grace this beguiling beauty. Bright acids and a little less still red Pinot (21%) than in most recent editions yields a Rosé that is delicate and light on its feet, with less of the vinous intensity that marked vintages such as 2006. There is a classic feeling of austerity in the 2018 that is mesmerizing. (Originally published in May 2021)Antonio Galloni | 97 AGAn impeccably balanced and graceful sparkling rosé, with a plushly creamy mousse. It’s hard to tell where the firm spine of well-honed acidity and the expressive range of pureed raspberry, candied ginger, tangerine and lemon thyme flavors begin or end. A rich hint of smoky toasted brioche plays on the finish. Drink now through 2033.Wine Spectator | 97 WSThe 2008 Champagne Rosé is another elegant expression, offering notes of cardamom, strawberry, and dried flowers. The palate is dry and well-structured and is balanced and long on the finish, with notes of dried orange peel, redcurrant, and fantastic salinity. It has a great application at the table and should continue to improve over the next 15-20 years.Jeb Dunnuck | 95 JDOffering up aromas of white flowers, red berries, toast and fresh pastry, Dom Pérignon rosé 2008 is medium to full-bodied, tense and vibrant, with a vinous texture and sapid nuances. Delicately phenolic, this is a pure and racy gastronomic Champagne that’s beginning to drink with style, and concludes with a long and penetrating finish. Drinking Window: 2021 - 2035Decanter | 95 DEC

This shows incredible depth of fruit with strawberry, cherry and phenolics. Full-bodied and layered with an incredible, three-dimensional element to the wine. This is so transparent and dynamic with dark fruit, yet it remains vivid and bright. Refined and precise, it goes on and on. Really savory, fresh and incredibly pinot-noir-like. What a wine. 13 years of maturation in the bottle. So drinkable now, but it will age for many years ahead.James Suckling | 99 JSThe newly released 2008 Dom Pérignon Rosé is a dramatic, perfumed wine, bursting with aromas of blood orange, iodine, sweet citrus fruit, peach and pear mingled with hints of buttered toast, smoke and spices. Full-bodied, textural and enveloping, with terrific concentration, racy acids and a pillowy mousse, it concludes with a long, penetrating finish. It derives its intense hue from red wine produced from Pinot Noir grown in lieux-dits Chants de Linottes in Hautvillers and Vauzelles in Aÿ.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 97 RPThe 2008 Dom Pérignon Rosé is magnificent. Rich and deep in the glass, the 2008 offers up an exotic mélange of aromas and flavors. Sweet red cherry, mint, orange peel and rose petal all grace this beguiling beauty. Bright acids and a little less still red Pinot (21%) than in most recent editions yields a Rosé that is delicate and light on its feet, with less of the vinous intensity that marked vintages such as 2006. There is a classic feeling of austerity in the 2018 that is mesmerizing. (Originally published in May 2021)Antonio Galloni | 97 AGAn impeccably balanced and graceful sparkling rosé, with a plushly creamy mousse. It’s hard to tell where the firm spine of well-honed acidity and the expressive range of pureed raspberry, candied ginger, tangerine and lemon thyme flavors begin or end. A rich hint of smoky toasted brioche plays on the finish. Drink now through 2033.Wine Spectator | 97 WSOffering up aromas of white flowers, red berries, toast and fresh pastry, Dom Pérignon rosé 2008 is medium to full-bodied, tense and vibrant, with a vinous texture and sapid nuances. Delicately phenolic, this is a pure and racy gastronomic champagne that’s beginning to drink with style. It concludes with a long and penetrating finish. (Drink between 2021-2035)Decanter | 95 DEC

The proportion of Pinot Noir in Comtes de Champagne Rosé has tended to increase in recent years, as evidenced by this 2008 vintage, which is almost 70% Pinot Noir. There is 15% red wine, and the rest is Chardonnay. With notes of spices, black cherry, morello cherry and black fruit, the bouquet is impressively complex and delicious. On the palate, the vinous texture, fine bubbles, depth and complexity allow for a long, chalky, chiselled finish. This is a gastronomic Champagne rosé with great ageing potential.Drinking Window 2021 - 2040Decanter | 97 DECTaittinger’s 2008 Brut Comtes de Champagne Rosé, which arrives on the market this year, has unwound considerably since I last tasted it. Offering up inviting aromas of red berries, plums, sweet spices, orange rind and freshly baked bread, it’s medium to full-bodied, pillowy and vinous, with an ample core of fruit, lively acids and an elegant pinpoint mousse. As I wrote in 2019, Taittinger is using more Pinot Noir and opting for longer sur lattes maturation for this bottling, and the result is that Comtes Rosé is becoming a more gastronomic Champagne. Deceptively charming as this 2008 is today, I suspect it will tighten up with a little age on cork.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 96 RPThe 2008 Comtes de Champagne Rosé presents a classically austere façade. Crushed berry, mint, chalk and dried herbs emerge on the bouquet, and yet the wine remains very tight, even with aeration. The Comtes Rosé has a track record of aging brilliantly. Today, though, I am not sure the fruit will ever fully emerge.Antonio Galloni | 93 AG