Page 4 - Hamilton Cellar List_Neat

CHAMPAGNE

VINTAGE

#4.CW 2012 Bollinger La Grande Année Reims
La Grande Année translates to Great Vintage, which is why Bollinger only produces this champagne for extraordinary years of harvest. Its aromatic
fullness with honey flavours and a smooth chalky texture on the palate lead into a refreshing finish.
La Grande Année is the ultimate expression of the Bollinger house style, rich and full - one of the world’s great Champagnes. Still family owned, this is
a champagne house of world renown. In exceptional years (perhaps 4 times a decade) they produce La Grande Annee, their Prestige Cuvee. 75% of the
fruit is from Grand Cru sites, the remaining 25% from the finest Premier Cru, first fermentation is in 100% old oak barrels, aged for 5 years on its lees
with no expense is spared!

“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”. Robert Parker

#4.CW 2012 Louis Roederer Cristal Brut Reims
In the 1850s, Champagne became extremely popular among the Russian nobility. Roederer shipped a third of his production to Russia in 1855. In 1867,
it was served as a custom-made, 20-year old wine at a grand dinner in Paris attended by the Tsar Alexander II of Russia. It was made using grapes from
the revered 1847 vintage and handcrafted by Roederer himself.
It was served in clear leaded, flat-bottomed crystal glass bottles to show off its beautiful golden hue. The Tsar loved it and asked for it to be served as the
palace wine. Thus, in 1876, the Louis Roederer Cristal Champagne went into full production to satisfy the Tsar’s demanding tastes.
This happened to be a period of political instability in Russia, and the Tsar feared assassination. He ordered that for his royal banquet, the Louis Roederer
Champagne should be presented in clear glass or crystal decanter - not in the typical dark green indented bottles. He wanted to be able to see it bubbling
and be sure there are no explosives hidden beneath. To meet the Tsar’s demands, Louis Roederer commissioned a Dutch glassmaker to create a clear
lead-glass crystal bottle with a flat bottom. Since then, the Louis Roederer Champagne has been known as Cristal. However, it was made commercially
available only in 1945.

“The 2012 Cristal is another absolutely stellar wine in this flight of recent releases. Rich, vinous and beautifully textured, the 2012 has been nothing short of
magnificent on the three occasions I have tasted it so far. In the glass, the 2012 is radiant and luscious, yet it possesses remarkable transparency and striking
aromatic depth. Light tropical notes develop in the glass, giving the 2012 a real feeling of exotic beauty. The 2012 is the first vintage of Cristal done with 100%
organically-farmed fruit, an approach introduced gradually starting with the 2007 that has profoundly changed Cristal, especially in its aromatic breadth.
Two thousand twelve is the vintage where endless trials and experiments in farming and winemaking are fully realized. The 2012 is just stunning. It’s as simple
as that. Dosage is just over 7 grams per liter, the lowest it has even been for Cristal”. 98 points, Antonio Galloni

#3.CW 2012 Pol Roger Vintage Brut Vallée d’Épernay, Côte des Blancs
Pol Roger is one of the few remaining family-owned grande marque Champagne houses. Their grande marque status was guaranteed at the turn of the
century when about 20 producers banded together to establish exacting quality controls for Champagne. The annual production at Pol Roger - less than
120,000 cases - is found in the best restaurants of France, England, and the USA, and is exported to over 30 countries.

“This rich, full-bodied Champagne is a classic from this producer. Its richness is emphasized by ripe Pinot Noir that dominates the blend, typical of the house style.
A blend of grand and premier cru wines from across the Montagne de Reims and Côte des Blancs, this wine will age much further”.

“Disgorged in October 2018, the 2012 Brut Vintage offers up aromas of smoky peach, apples, pastry cream, white flowers and mandarin. On the palate, the
wine is full-bodied, broad and powerful, with more volume and amplitude than its blanc de blancs counterpart, revealing racy balancing acids, an already
refined mousse and the impressive concentration that typifies this low-yielding vintage. It’s a classic blend of 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay that saw
seven grams per liter dosage”. 95 Points, Robert Parker