- 99 points -

It's striking that is as fresh as it is given the ten years in the cellars. It has a fine citrus nose with plenty of lemons, grapefruit and yellow chalky notes, not to mention some lighter floral elements. The palate is super dry (dosage at 3-4g), and there's a silky, sherbet-like texture that makes this smooth, fine and long. The citrus flavors give way to surging acidity and the finish twists very slowly through to lightly toasted cashew nuts mingled with complex fruit and citrus flavors. Disgorged 22nd October, 2013.

- 99 points -

Amazing aromas of sweet uncooked pie crust with almonds. Then you smell dried apples, apricots and pineapple. Grilled fruits, too. Full-bodied. So tangy and energetic with sizzling acidity and creamy tannins. Flavorful and lightly oxidized at the finish. Smacking my lips. Agile. Ginger and spices. A touch of bitter complexity with some salinity. Extreme character that grabs your attention. 13 years and six months aging on the lees with cork. 3 grams dosage. 71% pinot noir and 29% chardonnay.

- 98 points -

The wine's name stands for recently disgorged and this vintage Champagne was taken off its in 2018. That gave many years for it to develop its depth of flavor, richness and beautifully memorable toasty flavours.

- 98 points -

Time has graced this wine, proving the value of Bollinger’s policy of long aging on the lees followed by prompt release after disgorgement. This RD (Recently Disgorged) 2004 is a joyous wine, staunch, cold and powerful at first, transforming to fresh fruit shadowed by darker tones of barrel fermentation. As it opens in the glass, revealing racy energy, a range of floral pear and apple flavors emerge, resonant with a sense of limestone capturing the sun and reflecting it back in pale power. Enjoy this over the course of an evening as its presence shifts, providing varied perspectives on a great Champagne.

- 98 points -

The 2008 Champagne R.D. Extra Brut is chiseled, powerful, and packaged with a chalky mineral texture. Made from 70% Pinot Noir and the rest Chardonnay, with 3 grams per liter dosage, it pours a bright straw yellow hue, while its aromatics are more mineral-tinged and feel a touch more noble and upright in character. Aromatically, it opens to notes of toasted almond, preserved Meyer lemon, brothy saline, and vibrant fresh fruit. Displaying tension and grace, it has the richness of Bollinger but is more upright, with an electric mineral energy that courses through the finish, which lasts for days. Mouthwatering and long, it’s a stunner. It needs more time to harmonize all its components, but this is a wine to cellar for the ages, and I think this is going to be a vintage of RD we talk about for a very, very long time.

- 98 points -

Waiting for my glass to arrive at the tasting, I thought what could go wrong? The 2002 vintage is first rate, R.D. is always an experience and Bollinger never really ever screws it up. Guess what, this wine is the Holy Grail. I suppose it's why I taste so much ordinary wine; I constantly hope that someday it will all end up like this. Okay, dreaming aside, this is a fabulous bottle of bubble. Rich and creamy, bursting with acidity that propels the nutty nuanced brioche and mineral, honeyed palate to another level. Long, persistent, entertaining and brimming with weight and intensity it still walks a fine line of acidity and tightness that makes it electric on the palate. So long on the lees, it is now a history lesson in 2002 champagne. Beg, borrow (maybe not steal) the money but buy a bottle and experience one of the great mysteries of wine. The details are: 60/40 pinot noir/chardonnay; 23 crus: 71% Grand Crus, 29% Premier Cru; the dosage is a very low: 3 to 4 grams per liter or Extra Brut.

- 97 points -

Champagne of the Year

"When we tasted the 2002 Grande Annee in 2012 the wine earned 95 points, impressive for its pale chalk power, its muscularity and the freshness it expressed as a ten-year-old wine.  It had the scent of a sunny meadow.  With two years of additional time on the lees and a lower dosage, the R.D. version of that wine is more extreme.  If you break it apart you might consider how the barrel-aged base wines from 23 crus intensify the structure, or how the acidity of the vintage has sustained the bright, buzzing freshness of the peach and apple flavors.  The fruit seems to be wedded to rock, so strong is the chalk streak of limestone.  And yet the resonance of the wine, subsuming all of those factors, brings it together in a sumptuous texture, making it a pleasure to drink even now.  It's more sensible, however, to wait.  In ten years, this should begin to fulfill its promise, at the start of its prime."

- 96 points -

Very classical forward, intense, tertiary RD (recently disgorged) nose with brioche, spice box and candied fruit. Fine, piercing acidity is ably supplemented by a bone dry, richly textured, vinous mouthfeel that glides across the palate. Great generosity, complexity and youthful harmony with orange peel, tart-tatin, bread, roasted cashew, minerals and nougat flavours. Elegantly well-structured with a fine persistent mousse and a long saline finish. This is absolutely ready now, particularly if you prefer your RD with a deliberately fresh and vibrant aromatic profile. According to cellar master Gilles Descotes, this is really the point of RD in certain vintages like 2004. ‘So I would recommend that you open it within the next twelve months in order to capture and enjoy this very particular aromatic expression.’ Alternatively, if you prefer a touch more honey and praline notes, keep it in bottle for another five years – or more!

19/20 Points

Tasted blind. Dark gold. Mushrooms (a mature Bollinger trademark), savour and density with a dry finish. Definitely Bollinger RD. Some refinement too. Reminds me a little of a fine sake – umami?

98+ Points

When I was tasting Bollinger's brilliant Grande Année in this vintage, I was trying to imagine how good the 2008 Extra-Brut R. D. would be, as the style of the vintage seems almost perfectly adapted to this cuvée. Four years later, we have the answer, and the wine is brilliant. Disgorged in 2022, it's more reserved out of the gates than the dramatic Grande Année was on release, unwinding in the glass with notes of crisp orchard fruit, orange peel, freshly baked bread, subtle hints of fino sherry, wet stones and macadamia nut. On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied, with a deep core of fruit that's animated by racy acids and a refined pinpoint mousse, concluding with a bone-dry finish. Extremely harmonious and full of youthful energy, it's the finest R. D. of the decade and one that will richly reward a bit of additional age on cork. In style, the most obvious comparison is with the 1996, but the 2008 is more integrated and harmonious on release. These bottles were disgorged late last year with three grams per liter dosage.