2008 Bollinger R.D. Extra Brut Champagne 750 ml

In Champagne, vintages like 2008 only come around once every 50 years or so: Wine Advocate rated the vintage 99 points, its highest of all time (since 1970). Champagne guru Richard Juhlin wrote that it is “An absolutely wonderful vintage that has it all!...My initial reaction was that this was the vintage where you should purchase everything available.” 

In that historic season, Bollinger made one of the finest bottles in the region: the 2008 R.D. spent a staggering 14 years on its fine lees, under cork, and was hand-disgorged in 2022. Jeb Dunnuck named it #37 in his Top 100 Wines of 2023, calling it “a stunner…this is a wine to cellar for the ages.” “The wine is brilliant,” wrote Wine Advocate, awarding the same 98+ score as Krug’s Clos du Mesnil ($2,500).  

Despite the fact that Bollinger enjoys wild popularity in the U.K. and has made appearances in James Bond films dating back to 1973, it still swims a bit below the commercial mainstream in the States. For those who desire an incredibly complex vintage Champagne at well below the price point of Krug, Cristal, and other top têtes de cuvée, that’s a very good thing. 

The first Champagne house to put disgorgement dates on the bottles, Bollinger has a long history of recognizing the exceptional freshness and quality of a recently disgorged wine. Thus the R.D. A small dosage is added to give the wine just enough body to match its rich flavor. In 2008, they conjured an instant classic—well, one that took 14 years to come into its own!