2013 Champagne Pol Roger, Brut
Critics reviews
The 2013 Vintage is a rich, effusive wine that beautifully captures the personality of the year in which ripeness and acids are both elevated. Pastry, orchard fruit, citrus peel, spice and dried flowers build in an extroverted, racy Champagne that is an absolute delight. Time in the glass brings out a feeling of weightlessness and translucence that is beguiling. As for the obvious next question….yes, I expect the Churchill will be superb.
Drink 2021 - 2033
Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com (November 2021)
Pol Roger's just-released 2013 Brut Vintage is a beautifully chiseled, incisive wine that will appeal immensely to purists. Unwinding in the glass with scents of citrus zest, white flowers, crushed chalk and hints of fresh sourdoughs, it's medium to full-bodied, racy and precise, with a nicely concentrated and tightly wound core, tangy acids and an elegant pinpoint mousse. After the rich, muscular 2012 vintage, the 2013 represents quite a contrast; I'm not sure we'll see its stylistic like again for some time, so readers with classically inclined palates will want to stock up—advice I'll be following myself.
Drink 2022 - 2045
William Kelley, Wine Advocate (October 2020)
Quite a rich nose with come-on appeal – though probably not to a grower-champagne devotee! Firm cooking-apple flavour and apple-skin texture on the palate. Much lighter and more frivolous than the 2012. Just a little light, especially on the finish.
Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com (October 2020)
A tight, structured vintage Champagne with cherry, spice and some dried strawberry. Hints of biscuits, too. It’s medium-bodied with a tight, structured palate and a long,flavorful finish.
Drink or hold
James Suckling, JamesSucklingcom (July 2022)
Flaxen straw, with a whisper of rare gold, subtlety writ large on the nose, with orchard fruit, verbena and a discreet hint of almond and cashew evidenced. The palate, with air, transforms sourdough into pastry, green apples into spicy quince and kumquat, with spring flowers and shortbread in support. Preserved salted lemons, and a whisper of cashew and buttermilk, restraint and finesse above all else but the potential to grow and prosper is underwritten by a firm structure and an impressive purity of fruit.
Drink 2021 - 2027
Simon Field MW, Decanter.com (October 2020)
About this WINE
Pol Roger
Pol Roger is perhaps best known as Winston Churchill's favourite Champagne. The house remains family-owned and has a reputation for producing champagnes of finesse and elegance which age very well. Pol Roger Brut Rèserve Non-Vintage, made from equal parts of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, is consistently one of the very best on the market, largely due to the high proportion of aged reserve wines in the blend.
Pol Roger vintage wines, made from at least 60% Pinot Noir and up to 40% Chardonnay, are soft and fruit-driven in youth but, after ten years or so, develop great complexity and finesse. The Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill, launched in 1984 and made from a secret blend, is a Champagne of exquisite finesse and balance and one that rivals the very best of the region.
Brut Champagne
Brut denotes a dry style of Champagne (less than 15 grams per litre). Most Champagne is non-vintage, produced from a blend from different years. The non-vintage blend is always based predominately on wines made from the current harvest, enriched with aged wines (their proportion and age varies by brand) from earlier harvests, which impart an additional level of complexity to the end wine. Champagnes from a single vintage are labelled with the year reference and with the description Millésimé.
Non-vintage Champagnes can improve with short-term ageing (typically two to three years), while vintages can develop over much longer periods (five to 30 years). The most exquisite and often top-priced expression of a house’s style is referred to as Prestige Cuvée. Famous examples include Louis Roederer's Cristal, Moët & Chandon's Dom Pérignon, and Pol Roger's Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill.
Recommended Producers : Krug, Billecart Salmon, Pol Roger, Bollinger, Salon, Gosset, Pierre Péters, Ruinart
Champagne blend
Which grapes are included in the blend, and their proportion, is one of the key factors determining the style of most Champagnes. Three grapes are used - Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier.
26% of vineyards in Champagne are planted with Chardonnay and it performs best on the Côtes des Blancs and on the chalk slopes south of Epernay. It is relatively simple to grow, although it buds early and thus is susceptible to spring frosts. It produces lighter, fresher wines than those from Burgundy and gives finesse, fruit and elegance to the final blend. It is the sole grape in Blancs de Blancs, which are some of the richest long-lived Champagnes produced.
Pinot Noir accounts for nearly 40% of the plantings in Champagne and lies at the heart of most blends - it gives Champagne its body, structure, strength and grip. It is planted across Champagne and particularly so in the southern Aube district.
The final component is Pinot Meunier and this constitutes nearly 35% of the plantings. Its durability and resistance to spring frosts make the Marne Valley, a notorious frost pocket, its natural home. It ripens well in poor years and produces a soft, fruity style of wine that is ideal for blending with the more assertive flavours of Pinot Noir. Producers allege that Pinot Meunier lacks ageing potential, but this does not deter Krug from including around 15% of it in their final blends.
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Description
Lemon tinged hue with persistent, incredibly fine bubbles, its hallmark Pol from the off. Starting with a tantalising freshness, the Chardonnay is dominant with the nose offering crisp white currants, granny smith apples and notes of orange blossom. Hints of wild redcurrants arrive with aeration. Superb texture and weight, flavours of apple skin and toasted almond hits the mid-palate, complemented by an exquisite mineral zing which holds throughout.
Slight richness of warm gingerbread on the finish, followed by a crystalline acidity and saline crunch, the length goes on and on. So moreish and sophisticated, but one does not need to be to enjoy this! Another string to the bow of this adored Champagne house, this limited bottling is one to snap up.
Recommended to enjoy from 2023 - 2032.
Chris Lamb, Senior Account Manager, Berry Bros. & Rudd
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