A beautiful golden yellow, glinting with bright sparkles, is set off by an eruption of finely chiseled bubbles. Both complex and refreshing on the nose with fine, intense notes of orchard fruits, combined with nuts and stone fruit (lightly roasted flaked almonds, frangipani, candied mandarin peel) and accentuated by the radiance of a floral persistence (acacia flower and rose petal). The fullness of the wine (fresh yellow raspberry, fresh quince, honey biscuits, and lemon caviar) is symbolized by fresh fig, licorice, and pigeon heart tomato. It has a texture with a strong personality, limestone and an incredible intensity curbed by its fully integrated low dosage. The finish develops towards notes of toasted bread and bergamot. This is an impressive vintage with great depth. Tense and mineral, it is characterized by an elegant vinosity and offers you all the distinction of a well-aged champagne.

Served at cellar temperature (11°C to 12°C), this cuvée will bring out the flavors of an excellent sole in lemon butter or a delicious veal chop with chanterelle mushrooms.

Blend: 60% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay

Pale yellow colour. Constant and small bubble. Foam of great persistence. Very fruity aromas, especially of white fruit (acid apple and pear) on shades of peel of citrics and white flowers. In the background, some spicy notes owed to ageing (cinnamon) and cookies. It is a well-structured "cava" in the mouth. Well picked up over its acidity that tenses it overall from beginning to end. The bubble lends a creamy feeling, and it gives volume and softness to the structure that returns acidity and widens the aromas of white fruits and spices that are repeated in the mouth. Its balanced end harmonizes its acidity, and leaves a memory of freshness and volume owing to its light sugar content

Bollinger'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.-William Kelley, Mar 2019
Reviewed by: The Wine Advocate- 97 pts

Special Cuvée is the fruit of a precise blend of several harvest and above all of reserve wines, which lend the wine all its structure and make it a reference of the Bollinger style

An elegant and well-balanced sparkling wine that is versatile and food-friendly. Made using the traditional method, the most revered method for quality sparkling wine.

The Casteller Brut Cava exhibits green apple and citrus aromas. In the mouth, it has crisp, fresh flavors with citrus-lime notes and just a touch of sweetness. It tastes fresh, clean and nervy.
11.5%

Chandon was sparked into life in 1973 by the visionary spirit of Robert-Jean de Vogüé and California pioneer John Wright. As one of the first French-owned sparkling wine ventures in the U.S., Chandon carefully selected its vineyards and are now considered to be amongst the best for producing quality sparkling wines in California In keeping with the style established when the winery was founded, Chandon Brut Classic captures the expression of California’s vineyards. Its crisp and fresh flavor profile relies on a blend of the three traditional grape varietals used in Champagne — Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier — and adds a celebratory note to any occasion.