The 21st vintage of the Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill is an alluring mid-yellow-gold with a fine stream of bubbles, both characteristics of the length of time this wine has spent in the famously cool Pol Roger cellars.
The nose opens with notes of spices and pepper. A good intensity of black fruit follows, showing the fine concentration and density of the wine. The complexity is obvious: a bouquet of dried fruit and hazelnut overlayed with notes of exotic fruits. The aromas are particularly open and impressive.
On the palate, candied fruit notes accompany hints of pastries, brioche and cocoa, broad and mouth-filling. Delightfully structured, the large proportion of Pinot Noir gives the roundness and gravity that one expects from this cuvée. Despite the wine's relative youth, it is starting to show some smoky weight and good grip with broad, rich and long acidity. Full bodied and generous, the wine culminates with terrific length. Drink now or over the next 20 years.
Serve at 8-10 °C with shellfish, lobster, crab, or with fried liver in a cream and elk sauce.
Very complex nose with a wide spectrum of candied citrus, dried peach and mirabelle tart aromas. Bold and rich, particularly on the mid-palate, but with a great deal of subtlety and delicacy for the vintage. This is already delicious, but at the finish you really taste how this has been made for the long term. Great drive and persistence right at the end.
A tightly meshed Champagne, with an up-front, broad feel that's quickly reined in and well-defined by racy acidity. Creamy on the palate, with the fine mousse carrying flavors of crème de cassis, lemon-infused pastry cream, smoked almond and oyster shell. Long, harmonious finish.
A strong effort in a less-acclaimed vintage, Pol Roger's newly released 2015 Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill opens in the glass with aromas of confit citrus, ripe orchard fruits and dried white flowers mingled with hints of honeycomb, freshly baked bread and anise. Medium to full-bodied, vinous and concentrated, with bright acids, chalky structuring extract and a pinpoint mousse, this inherently rather rich, gastronomic Champagne is quite tightly wound out of the gates and will reward a bit of bottle age.
The Champagne House, which has been around for more than 150 years, is independent and run by the same Roger family, which has been working for generations to produce a Champagne for which every bottle is an ambassador of the Champagne House. To achieve this, the members of the Roger family select the trusted growers and the grapes they buy from them and are actively involved in the production process.