Bollinger La Grande Annee 2014

A house in Ay

Bollinger was established on February 6, 1829, in the village of Ay in Champagne. Its founders are named differently from one source to the next: one lists Hennequin de Villermont, Paul Levieux Renaudin and Jacques Bollinger, another Athanase de Villermont, Paul Renaudin and Joseph Bollinger. The firm traded as Renaudin Bollinger before taking the single name Bollinger in the 1960s, and it has been run by the family since 1889.

The house is unusual among the big Champagne names for how much of its own fruit it grows. It owns about 160 hectares of vineyards, which supply more than 60% of its needs, with large holdings in Ay, Verzenay and Tauxieres-Mutry. Queen Victoria granted it a Royal Warrant in 1884.

The vintage cuvee has had several names. One account says it was simply called the vintage until 1976, when it became Grande Annee, French for 'great year', and La Grande Annee in 1997. Another gives the dates as Millesime from 1923 to 1982 and Grande Annee from 1983. Both agree on the current name from 1997.

Lily Bollinger, James Bond and a new cellar team

The figure most associated with the house is Lily Bollinger, who took control in 1941 after the death of her husband Jacques and ran it until 1971, expanding the vineyards and promoting the brand around the world. Her line about drinking Champagne when happy, when sad and sometimes when alone is still the most quoted thing ever said about the wine. In 1992 Christian Bizot drew up a Charter of Ethics and Quality to set the house's production standards.

Bollinger has appeared in James Bond films since Live and Let Die in 1973, through the Daniel Craig films Casino Royale and Skyfall, and released a special 007 cuvee for No Time to Die in 2021.

The 2014 was the work of a new cellar team. Gilles Descotes, a longtime Bollinger employee, became chef de cave in 2013, and the house created a new deputy cellar master position for Denis Bunner, who came from outside. Descotes gave the first push to expand the house's oak: Bollinger had about 3,000 barrels in the mid-2010s, 3,500 by 2019 and around 4,000 today. The 2018 would be his last Grande Annee.

An up-and-down year

The house describes 2014 as a year of mixed fortunes. A rainy autumn and winter gave way to a warm, dry spring and the sunniest June in 50 years, then an unusually cold July and August. The cool summer kept acidity high and disease pressure low, and a bright September brought the grapes to ripeness.

All of Bollinger's vineyards were picked starting on the same day, September 15, and the whole harvest was finished in nine days. One account notes the wider region had begun picking about a week earlier, on September 8.

The year changed the shape of the blend. Instead of the usual mix of roughly 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay, the 2014 is 61% Pinot Noir and 39% Chardonnay, a share of Chardonnay one account says Bollinger had matched only in 2002. Verzenay, a north-facing village in the Montagne de Reims that saw less rain than Ay, took the lead in the Pinot Noir, which a critic noted had happened only once before in two decades, in 2007. The Chardonnay came mostly from the Cote des Blancs: Chouilly, Vertus, Oiry and Cramant.

How it is made and how to spot it

La Grande Annee is made only in years the house judges exceptional, from grand cru and premier cru grapes. It is fermented entirely in small, old oak barrels, which the house says average around 20 years old and which are kept up by its own cooper. The wine is then aged in bottle under a natural cork rather than a crown cap, for more than twice the time the appellation requires, and every bottle is riddled and disgorged by hand.

The 2014 spent about seven years on its lees. Bottles carry different disgorgement dates: critics report April, July and August 2021. Dosage is given by the house as 8 grams per liter, though two critics recorded 7. The house plans a late-disgorged R.D. version of the 2014 around 2030.

Critics placed it near the top of the cuvee's recent run. Antonio Galloni of Vinous gave it 98 points and called it one of the best recent editions he could remember tasting, with a sizzling energy and tension not often associated with Bollinger. Jeb Dunnuck, Wine Enthusiast and Wine Spectator each gave 97, Richard Juhlin 96, Wine Advocate 95 and James Suckling 94. Wine Enthusiast named it number 5 on its Top 100 wines of 2022, and Wine Spectator noted 1,500 cases imported to the United States.

Where it trades

Grande Annee is made in quantity by prestige-cuvee standards, which keeps it within reach of many collectors. Bollinger makes about 2.5 million bottles a year across all its wines, by one count, and produces a Grande Annee only a few times a decade; recent releases include 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015.

In October 2026 a New York merchant listed a single 750 ml bottle of the 2014 at $199.99. A rose version, La Grande Annee Rose 2014, was also made, with 5% red Pinot Noir from the house's La Cote aux Enfants plot added to the base wine.

The numbers

Blend

61% Pinot Noir, 39% Chardonnay

Crus

19 villages; grand cru 78% (house importer) or 79% (one critic)

Harvest

Began September 15, 2014; finished in nine days

Dosage

8 g/l per the house

Vinous (Antonio Galloni)

98

Wine Spectator / Wine Enthusiast / Jeb Dunnuck

97 each

Wine Advocate

95

U.S. imports

1,500 cases, per Wine Spectator

Timeline

1. Feb 6, 1829

   Bollinger is established in Ay.

2. 1884

   Queen Victoria grants the house a Royal Warrant.

3. 1941

   Lily Bollinger takes control after the death of her husband Jacques.

4. 1971

   Lily Bollinger steps back from running the house.

5. 1973

   Bollinger appears in the James Bond film Live and Let Die.

6. 1976

   The vintage cuvee takes the name Grande Annee, by one account.

7. 1992

   Christian Bizot writes the house's Charter of Ethics and Quality.

8. 1997

   The cuvee becomes La Grande Annee.

9. 2013

   Gilles Descotes becomes chef de cave.

10. Sep 15, 2014

    Bollinger begins picking all its vineyards on the same day; the harvest takes nine days.

11. Apr 2021

    First reported disgorgement of the 2014 after about seven years on its lees.

12. 2022

    The 2014 is released and named number 5 on Wine Enthusiast's Top 100 of 2022.

13. Oct 2026

    A New York merchant lists a bottle at $199.99.

The world in 2014

• Feb 7, 2014

  The Winter Olympics open in Sochi, Russia.

• Mar 8, 2014

  Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappears with 239 people aboard.

• Mar 21, 2014

  Russia formally annexes Crimea.

• Jun 29, 2014

  The Islamic State declares itself a caliphate.

• Jul 13, 2014

  Germany beats Argentina 1-0 to win the World Cup in Brazil.

• Jul 17, 2014

  Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 is shot down over eastern Ukraine.

• Nov 12, 2014

  The Philae lander makes the first landing on a comet.

Daily price data

FLOAT reprices this wine every day from completed sales. Last updated November 12, 2026.

Every grade and recorded sale for this wine

Price record

This is an asking price, not a sale. It is what a seller wanted on the date shown. Asking prices often sit above what buyers pay, but an ask is not a ceiling: a sale can land on either side of it. It is not a value.

By reference price, Bollinger La Grande Annee 2014 is number 95 of 100 in the wine entries of the FLOAT 100. 12 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (77 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• Every bottle of La Grande Annee is still riddled and disgorged by hand.
• The 2014 has more Chardonnay than almost any Grande Annee before it: 39%, a level one account says the house had reached only in 2002.
• Bollinger picked all its vineyards in 2014 starting on the same day and finished the harvest in nine days.
• June 2014 was the sunniest in Champagne in 50 years, but July and August turned cold.
• Bollinger has been in James Bond films since 1973.
• The wine ages under a natural cork, not the crown cap most Champagne uses during aging.