A bottle of 1988 Bollinger sits on ice in the Aston Martin DB5 in GoldenEye: a vintage champagne kept in a car. The Bollinger R.D. 1988 is the house’s late-disgorged wine from that vintage, and a bottle from that year is now a treat for the cellar rather than the fridge.
A caution. Our catalogue records the film bottle as R.D. 1988, but several sources in our research, including a champagne merchant and a Bollinger press preview, say it was La Grande Année 1988. Both are Bollinger’s 1988, so we have kept the page, but we cannot confirm the cuvee on screen.
Owning it now
R.D. stands for Récemment Dégorgé, or recently disgorged: the wine rests on its lees for years before release, which adds depth. A 1988 R.D. is a mature wine. Merchants describe toast, honey and candied fruit. A tasting note on CellarTracker found a short finish and shy bubbles, a reminder that old champagne varies from bottle to bottle.
Buy from a merchant with proper storage, at a collector’s price. A 1.5-litre magnum on Wine.com was sold out at the time of writing, so a price-comparison search is the place to start. Serve it cool rather than ice cold, in a tulip glass.
If you want the same house in a younger bottle, the Bollinger R.D. 2002 is on the site from another film.
Specifications
| Producer | Bollinger |
|---|---|
| Wine | R.D. Extra Brut, 1988 vintage |
| Style | Late-disgorged vintage champagne; Pinot Noir dominant with Chardonnay |
| Formats | 750ml and 1.5-litre magnum |
| Film link | 1988 Bollinger in the Aston Martin DB5; R.D. or La Grande Année disputed |
| Availability | Collector market; check provenance and storage |
More of the film is on GoldenEye, with Pierce Brosnan’s Bond. Merchant details are on Wine-Searcher.
