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  • Country ranking ?

    1 236
  • Producer ranking ?

    58
  • Decanting time

    15min
  • When to drink

    now to 2035
  • Food Pairing

    Fois Gras And Truffle Mousse

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The Story

Pol Roger recently celebrated its 150th anniversary and is perhaps best known as Winston Churchill's favourite Champagne. Established in 1849, Champagne Pol Roger remains family-owned and proudly independent to this day. Pol Roger, the 1831 born founder of the house, had lived in the Grand Cru village of Aÿ his whole childhood. The whole family supported the enterprise of their son. From early on Pol Roger focused in exports, and the English market was the most important one from the beginning. The commercial success of the company had its roots in the business model where they produced other champagne brands in the Pol Roger facilities. Pol Roger is one of the few remaining family owned Grande Marque champagne businesses.

 

The must undergoes two débourbages (settlings), one at the press house immediatly after pressing and the second, a débourbage à froid, in stainless steel tanks at 6°C over a 24 hour period. A slow cool fermentation with the temperature kept under 18°C takes place in stainless steel with each variety and each village kept seperate. The wine undergoes a full malolactic-fermentation prior to final blending. Secondary fermentation takes place in bottle at 9°C in the deepest Pol Roger cellars (33 metres below street level) where the wine is kept until it undergoes remuage (riddling) by hand, a rarity in Champagne nowadays. The very fine and persistent mousse for which Pol Roger is renowned owes much to these deep, cool and damp cellars.

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Vintage 2004

A great example of how large yields do not necessarily mean poor quality in Champagne. As a reaction to the previous year's low yields, the vines produced one of the largest crops on record. The growing season proceeded without major difficulties but the bumper crop called for bud thinning. August brought about cooler weather and some rains, increasing the risk of rot. The massive crop, averaging 13,990 kg/ha, was picked from September 18th onwards. The quality was a pleasant surprise; vibrant wines with appropriate intensity, refined charm and refreshing lightness. This vintage impresses me more and more, and I feel tempted to give it the full five stars. It comes with a rare balance of freshness, lightness, yet fine aromatic intensity. Post-release, this vintage has proven to be slow to age, and elegant wines are likely to keep on ageing gracefully. Dom Pérignon and Louis Roederer Cristal both excelled.

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Tasting note

ending

Medium, Extensive and Flavorful

nose

Youthful and Opulent

taste

Balanced, Well-structured, Youthful, Medium-bodied and Focused

Verdict

Well-rounded and Full-bodied

Written Notes

Pale lemon yellow, small bubbles. Apples, minerals, lemons, fresh and elegant nose, some brioche. Fresh acidity, elegant mousse, fruity, minerals, citrus, leaner and feels more youthful than last bottle, linear. 91

  • 91p

The wine displays a very attractive pale straw colour. The nose is mineral and elegant with complex aromas of white flowers, quince and subtle brioche overtones.

On the palate the wine is intense yet retains a sense of delicacy with balanced notes of stone fruit, acacia honey and citrus underpinned by a fine thread of acidity. Excellent freshness and persistence, with ample concentration and richness to develop over the next 3-7 years.

Whilst the first days of 2004 began under the cover of snow, an unusual mildness set in from 5th January. Apart from a few short sharp periods of cold in February and March, this mild and dry weather continued until the spring. Full flowering started on 14th June for the Chardonnay and on 18th June for the Pinot Noir. A wet and cool August slowed the maturation of the grapes but the warmth and sunshine during the first three weeks of September encouraged an exceptional development of the bunches and the grapes were very healthy at the time of the harvest. The earliest parcels were picked on the 18th September with the latest on the 2nd October in excellent sunny conditions. A record crop with healthy ripe grapes picked at a potential average degree of 9.6% and total acidity: 7.1 H2SO4g/l.

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Information

Origin

Epernay, Champagne

Vintage Quality

Above Average

Value For Money

Satisfactory

Investment potential

No Potential

Fake factory

None

Glass time

45min

Other wines from this producer

Blanc de Blancs

Blanc de Blancs Vinothèque

Brut Réserve

Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill Vinothèque

Pol Roger Vinothèque

Pol Roger vintage rosé

Pure

Reserve de Wermacht

Rich

Sir Winston Churchill

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