Pol Roger
The family-owned house has, in part thanks to the enthusiastic endorsement of Winston Churchill, for long been regarded with great generosity and indulgence on the British market; in size terms, it is just a little larger than Bollinger, but much smaller than regional giants such as Moet, Laurent-Perrier, or Lanson. Stylistically, its range is much lighter and more delicate than Bollinger, for example… [the Blanc de Blancs] is all it should be, full of early-flowering grace and vanilla charm, while the vintage wine has a fine track record for slow, steady ageing. The 'prestige' cuvée, named after the company's most famous customers, was only launched in the mid 1980s and requires age before it begins to show the surging intensity and grandeur of dimension of some of its rivals. ANDREW JEFFORD, The New France
POL ROGER (9/10)
Stepping into Pol Roger's production facility in Epernay is like entering a different world. 'We call this the kitchen, ' introduced Laurent d'Harcourt, recently promoted Managing Director of the company. This was not like any kitchen I'd ever seen. Immaculately polished stainless steel tanks perfectly reflected shiny white tiles and snow-white surfaces. It was if we were entering a brain surgery until or a NASA assembly room, and I had an uneasy feeling that I might be asked to don a body suit, lest I contaminate this precision machine with a single molecule of foreign material. I have been buying Pol Roger for decades, but it was not until that moment that everything about this celestial estate suddenly snapped into perfect focus. The champagnes that emerge from this extraterrestrial building are as desperately precise, intricately delicate and flawlessly pristine as its polished interior, revealing the manifesto that defines all that lies within.
A blend of three champagne varieties in roughly equal proportions; 20% reserve wines; 150 parcels from 30 crus; 36-48 months on lees in bottle; 9-10 g/L dosage; bottle code indicates packaging date, with the first digit of denoting the year, and next three digits the day of that year. TYSON STELZER
POL ROGER (9/10)
Stepping into Pol Roger's production facility in Epernay is like entering a different world. 'We call this the kitchen, ' introduced Laurent d'Harcourt, recently promoted Managing Director of the company. This was not like any kitchen I'd ever seen. Immaculately polished stainless steel tanks perfectly reflected shiny white tiles and snow-white surfaces. It was if we were entering a brain surgery until or a NASA assembly room, and I had an uneasy feeling that I might be asked to don a body suit, lest I contaminate this precision machine with a single molecule of foreign material. I have been buying Pol Roger for decades, but it was not until that moment that everything about this celestial estate suddenly snapped into perfect focus. The champagnes that emerge from this extraterrestrial building are as desperately precise, intricately delicate and flawlessly pristine as its polished interior, revealing the manifesto that defines all that lies within.
A blend of three champagne varieties in roughly equal proportions; 20% reserve wines; 150 parcels from 30 crus; 36-48 months on lees in bottle; 9-10 g/L dosage; bottle code indicates packaging date, with the first digit of denoting the year, and next three digits the day of that year. TYSON STELZER
