Pinot Noir (63.5%), Chardonnay (36.5%)
6x75cl * Vegan & Organic * 12.5% ABV * Champagne, France
Pol Roger is best known as Prime Minister Winston Churchill's preferred Champagne. Churchill liked to drink his Pol Roger by the pint (a size no longer made, sadly, but roughly equivalent to 50cl), and it is reckoned that in the last 10 years of his life, more than 500 cases of the stuff passed through his cellars. Of her father's fondness for Pol Roger, Churchill's daughter, Lady Soames, once said, "I saw him many times the better for it, but never the worse." During the War, Germans even placed spies in Pol Roger in order to trace Churchill's planned movements around the UK by the shipments of Champagne for him!
Sir Winston Churchill loved the robust and mature wines of Pol Roger. And this vintage echoes exactly that style: a Pinot Noir-led blend, produced entirely from Grand Cru and Premier Cru fruit, with a little more power, built to reward long aging. The growing season made that stylistic choice possible. According to Pol Roger's Chef de Caves Damien Cambres, 'never before had the Champagne region seen such maturity alongside such perfect health and freshness.' After six years aging in Pol Roger's cellars, the wine is now beginning to show its character. It has the generosity to be enjoyed now and all the hallmarks of a vintage that will develop beautifully over the coming decades.
'Pale gold with a green shimmer and a persistent bead; aromatics unfurling in an orderly fashion, with orchard fruit, then citric peel and finally something a little more indulgent, toasted almond, maybe, or hazelnut. Refined above all. The palate changes the register appreciably and immediately seduces with red fruit and flowers, rosehip ceding to roses and bilberry to peony, the darker colours and sturdy backbone prompted by the atypically high percentage of Pinot Noir in the blend. Thereafter, the wine is magisterial in its weave of firm acidity, extract and ripe fruit. 2019 is now, it seems, pulling ahead of both its immediate neighbours in a famous trilogy, such is the inherent power on show; sloes, plum dark chocolate and a whisper of umami. Power is harnessed by an imperious structure and tapered by a purposefully meandering finish. Most impressive.' 94-96pts, Simon Field MW
'Both the Rosé and the Brut excel in 2019 at Pol Roger, where the vintage's enticing mixture of plush ripeness, refreshing brightness and age worthy build combine to offer up some of the finest vintage releases of recent times at this house. Pol's appealing creamy generosity is already in play behind outgoing flavours of caramelised apricot tart and fragrant Pinot Noir red berries, but there's plenty of energising Chardonnay here of fine quality, almost explosively aromatic with pomelo and mandarin zestiness. Already far from tight and offering plenty of pleasure, time in the cellar will ramp up the complexity.' 94pts, Tom Hewson
'The 2019 Brut Vintage is soft, open-knit and very approachable. A Champagne of inner strength, the 2019 comes across as a bit closed today, which is surprising given the style of the vintage. Soft curves and silky contours add to the wine's considerable appeal. Floral and orchard fruit overtones linger. I have a feeling there is more here. It is rather quiet today.' 92+ pts, Antonio Galloni
IN BOND EX-VAT PRICING. ETA AUTUMN 2026.