Wine Advisor
Pol Roger, Sir Winston Churchill 2004
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Description
Champagne Pol Roger created their Prestige Cuvée in homage to Sir Winston Churchill mindful of the qualities that he sought in his champagne : robustness, a full-bodied character and relative maturity. The exact blend is a closely guarded family secret but it is undeniable that the composition would meet with the approval of the man to whom it is dedicated : "My tastes are simple, I am easily satisfied with the best". Pinot Noir predominates, providing structure, breadth and robustness whilst Chardonnay contributes elegance, finesse and subtlety. Composed exclusively of grapes sourced from Grands Crus Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vineyards which were already under vine during Churchill's lifetime. Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill is only made in the very best vintages and is always released later than the other vintage dated Champagnes from Pol Roger, marking Churchill's appreciation for older wines.
The wine is a deep golden-yellow colour with a continuous thread of lingering bubbles. The elegant nose delivers intense and complex aromas, dominated by enticing notes of dried fruit, toasted almond and honey. On the palate the wine is full bodied, boasting a powerful, rich structure, yet balanced with a refreshing acidity and flavourful notes of citrus fruit. The finish shows a remarkable length, with creamy notes of butter combined with rich fruitiness of Mirabelle plum and tart, ripe pear.
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Stephan Reinhardt
An intense golden-yellow color dresses the Pol Roger prestige 2004 Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill, which opens with a clear, deep, dense, ripe, fresh, pure and elegant bouquet of matured apples, apricots and lemon flavors along with exciting spicy flavors. Although this Brut is already more than 11 years old, it is dew-fresh and still developing—slowly. This Champagne is highly complex and well structured on the palate, with grapefruit flavors; it is a full-bodied and intense, yet very firm, persistent, fresh and very elegant assemblage of unnamed Grand Cru Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays. It reveals a very long and complex, powerful but stimulating finish and, obviously, eternal youth. The finish is powerful and stringent, and reveals great aging potential. The wine is somewhat restrained and too compact at the moment, though, and should benefit from a longer bottle aging.
Reviewed by: William Kelley
The 2004 Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill is a charming, beautifully balanced wine in its prime today. Offering up aromas of golden orchard fruit, honeycomb, freshly baked bread, iodine, spices and candied peel, it's medium to full-bodied, satiny and charming, with a pillowy mousse, lively acids and a long, saline, delicately caramel-inflected finish. While this vintage has long lived in the shadow of 2002, this is an excellent Churchill in its own right.
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
The flagship 2004 Brut Sir Winston Churchill is creamy, ample and highly expressive, but it is also a bit more forward than I expected for the vintage. Apricot jam, honey, spice, smoke, brioche and lovely hints of toastiness all add to the wine's considerable appeal, while there is no shortage of density or volume. All that said, the wine's balance is not as fine as I had hoped it would be. Perhaps a bit more time in bottle will do the trick. To be sure, the 2004 Churchill is more advanced than most other tête de cuvées in this vintage.
About the Producer
Located in the town of Epernay in the Champagne region, Pol Roger Champagne was founded in 1849 by Pol Roger, a Champagne man from Aix-en-Provence. Over the next 50 years, Pol Roger built the estate into one of the most respected in Champagne and established it as a solid trading cornerstone in the UK. After his death, the estate passed into the hands of his sons Maurice and Georges. The two brothers had their own specialities, Maurice being very open to the public and Georges preferring to stay in the blending room and tasting room, and it was in their hands that the Champagne de la Vignoble continued to flourish. The Champagnes are now made from 55 hectares of vineyards, mostly in or around Epernay. Made from grapes grown in 18 vineyards in the Epernay region, it is a rich, deep, full-bodied wine with the vibrancy and finesse that characterise the best Champagnes. Its Reserve Champagnes can last 30 years or more, longer than the best French red wines. Another of the estate's outstanding Champagnes is the Chardonnay Blanc de Blancs, which is also one of the world's finest white in white Champagnes, made from only Chardonnay from the best vineyards in the Cramant, Le Mesnil, Oger and Avize regions. The Chardonnay Blanc de Blancs is perhaps the estate's sexiest and most glamorous, ready to drink at a young age and with less ageing capacity than the Reserve and the famous Sir Winston Churchill Memorial Champagne. Today, after a century and a half of development, traditional and modern elements can be found in all aspects of the vinification process at Château Paulus. The most direct manifestation of this modernity is in the fermentation plant, with its neat and shiny stainless steel fermenting tanks, hinting at a departure from the days of first fermentation and storage in wooden barrels. It was around the 1930s that the estate decided to move away from barrel fermentation and started using concrete tanks for fermentation and later stainless steel fermenters. This modern equipment allowed for better temperature control during fermentation and clarification, resulting in a cleaner, more consistent and better quality fermented wine. Château Paulot was one of the first champagne houses to make this change.
