90+(?) 1990 Bollinger Grande Annee 12/25/08 ($65)
12% alc
Color: Deep gold, 24 karat. Fully mature. (3.5) Bouquet: Elegant, dry Madeira with some key lime. (3.0) Body: Light heavyweight with excellent acidity-driven structure. Mouthcoating mousse and just enough fruit left to be attractive. (3.0) Flavor: Parallels bouquet, but fruit is a bit sweeter, yeast and dough. (3.0) Finish: Still shows fruit and tartness that lingers, but could be sweeter and longer. (2.5)
Overall: Shows a glimpse of its younger self with structure and some power. It is mature, but may sweeten with more time. It has mature complexity and charm, but could show more. Sparkle is not apparent after 15 minutes in the glass, but still has a fine mousse in the mouth. I prefered this when younger, when first released I thought it was great (say 95 points), but this is still a "something different" treat for me. It continued to develop and improve in the glass and bottle over the course of 2 hours. (15.0)