This year, our choice of a wine to welcome in 2015 is Bollinger Rosé Champagne. This lovely pinot forward wine comes from one of our favorite Champagne houses. We’ve featured the Bollinger Special Cuvee Brut many times across the years. Thanks to a tasting at Brix Wine Shop, we were able to taste three wines from the Bollinger line: The Special Cuvee (to remind ourselves why we like it), the Rosé, and the 2004 Grande Annee.
While we don’t go to a lot of wine tastings, we are tempted when we can sample wines that are seldom available by the glass or when we can meet a great winemaker, importer, or another of our heros of the wine world. Thank you to Brix for the number of times they have delivered such an opportunity.
We start each month with a glass of bubbly and each year we search for a very special wine for the first sip of the new year. Since we are definitely part of the stay at home on New Year’s Eve contingent, we have been known to splurge on this annual tradition.
Without tasting the line, we might have selected the Grande Annee based on the wonderful tasting notes we’ve read and its reputation as one of the truly great Champagnes. It is! And we enjoyed every sip as this wine showed what careful aging can do to add je ne sais quoi to Chardonnay forward Champagne. Making it our sparkler for a new year was tempting.
But, the Rosé hit our sweet spot. With more pinot in the mix and just the right note of fresh fruit and acidity, it won our hearts.
Make no mistake, we loved all three Bollingers, but sitting here on New Year’s Eve, we know that the Rosé will keep us smiling from the first pop of the cork to the final drip as we hold the bottle upside down over a glass to slide out the last drop.
We’re posting this early so that you have time to buy a bottle if you are tempted by our choice this year.
Here’s More About Our Sparkling Resolution
And, Our Sparkling Resolution Winner’s List
Want to learn more about wine? Remember to click over to Amazon
The Food Lover’s Guide to Wine
The New Wine Lover’s Companion
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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino, 3rd photo courtesy of Bollinger
Photography: © 2014 Penny & Ed Cherubino