Pol Roger
Brilliant golden robe, crossed by delicate bubbles that betray the bottle's long stay in the deepest cellars of the house. The nose, balanced, still appears reserved but already beautifully polished: white flowers, citrus and dried apricot mingle with blond tobacco and gentle, lightly peppery…
THE CUVÉES OF MAISON POL ROGERThe expert verdict
The structure of this champagne
TASTING NOTES
Brilliant golden robe, crossed by delicate bubbles that betray the bottle's long stay in the deepest cellars of the house. The nose, balanced, still appears reserved but already beautifully polished: white flowers, citrus and dried apricot mingle with blond tobacco and gentle, lightly peppery spices. On the palate, the wine is crisp, with a vibrant freshness; minerality and tension intertwine in a structure that is both complex and elegant, energetically and refinedly built. Blood orange and pastry notes are heightened by a touch of fresh raspberry, before a long, generous finish full of promise.
The composition
Terroirs
Composed exclusively of grapes from vineyards classified as grands crus, the cuvée is dominated by pinot noir — for structure, breadth and firmness — which chardonnay illuminates with its elegance and finesse. The must undergoes two settlings, one at the press just after pressing, the other cold in stainless steel vats at 6°C for twenty-four hours. Fermentation, slow, takes place below 18°C in stainless steel, with each grape variety and each village vinified separately, followed by full malolactic fermentation. The second fermentation takes place in bottle at 9°C in Pol Roger's deepest cellars, 33 metres below street level, where the wine rests until riddling — still done by hand, a rarity in Champagne today.
About this house
Founded in 1849 in Épernay, Maison Pol Roger is one of the few great Champagne houses to have remained independent and family-owned. Its cellars are among the deepest in the region — 33 metres below the street — and it is to their constant coolness that its wines owe the fine, persistent mousse that is their signature, as well as to the manual riddling the house continues to practise.
The friendship between Winston Churchill and the house has become legendary: the British Prime Minister made this champagne his drink of choice and ordered it every year. The cuvée bearing his name, born with the 1975 vintage, seeks to capture what he expected of a great champagne — a firm structure, a generous body and beautiful maturity. Its exact blend remains a closely guarded secret of the Pol-Roger family; only that it rests solely on grands crus is known. Produced in very small quantities and only in the greatest years, it returns here with the 2018, the first vintage since the 2015. "My tastes are simple: I am easily satisfied with the best."
The perfect pairing
Aperitif
The delicate bubble and vibrant freshness of the 2018 lighten the warm choux pastry of the gougères, whose cheesy richness calls for the breadth of the pinot noir.
Starter
Against the silky richness of foie gras, the cuvée's mineral tension and notes of citrus and dried apricot provide counterpoint and revive every bite.
Main course
The blond tobacco and gentle spices of the Sir Winston Churchill marry with the earthy scent of truffle: the ultimate pairing for a grand table.
Other champagnes
from Maison Pol Roger
