Pol Roger Brut Réserve

Pol Roger Brut Réserve is my Audrey Hepburn champagne. Classically elegant, distinctive, refined, and sophisticated. It is quietly beautiful… it doesn’t need to be obvious or ostentatious because its style speaks for itself. Exactly like Audrey Hepburn.

It is no surprise to me that Pol Roger Brut Réserve was the champagne of choice at Kate and Will’s and Harry and Meghan’s royal weddings. 

But something that might surprise you is that Pol Roger was the favourite champagne of Sir Winston Churchill! As brash and gruff and blunt as the British PM was, he was said to have had 42,000 bottles of Pol Roger champagne opened in his lifetime. Pol Roger has even named their stunning cuvée de prestige, the Sir Winston Churchill, after the war-time Prime Minister.

Pol Roger Brut Réserve Tasting Notes 

Bubble & Flute Review 

In a few words… Classic and creamy.

In a few sentences… This champagne is the ultimate apéritif. It’s creamy but fresh with hints of lemon and almonds. I never tried a white peach until I read the tasting note for the Brut Réserve so I didn’t know what a white peach tasted like. Now I do. 

Moment or mood… This is my Audrey Hepburn champagne so the Brut Réserve is for the most elegant moments. I do have a fantasy of one day sipping a glass of the Brut Réserve outside Tiffany’s in New York or on a Roman Holiday.

Where to buy it… All good wine retailers for about $80 a bottle.

*Bubble & Flute Champagne Style – Classic & Smooth

Wine Expert Reviews 

Tyson Stelzer… Pol Roger’s famous ‘White Foil’ is an attractive and refreshing apéritif, and the 2014 base is as magnificent as ever, loaded with all the freshness of focused lemon, red apple and white peach. Around four years on lees has built a creaminess to its mouthfeel, without yet progressing into secondary complexity. It flows seamlessly into a long and zesty finish, heightened by excellent salt mineral texture. The company’s investment in its facilities and fruit sources over the past two decades is now paying strong dividends, and individual parcel vinification preserves fantastic detail, showcasing its components with greater precision than ever. It projects fresher citrus fruit, more pronounced salt minerality and more seamless persistence – the most distinguished White Foil yet. The 2011 base suffers in the wake of this challenging season, upholding bright acidity and now presenting the almond-meal complexity of maturity, with a contracted dryness to the finish. 94 points

 James Suckling…  This has impressively energetic style with bold lemon, peach and berry aromas, in quite pure mode. The palate delivers a boldly vinous impression with a succulent drive of citrus and hazelnut flavors. Drink now. 92 points

Tasting Notes from Pol Roger

Eye… Pol Roger Brut Réserve diplays a beautiful golden straw coloured hue, as well as abundant and fine bubbles.

Nose…With a powerful and attractive nose, it first delivers aromas of fruit (pear, mango …) and then releases light flavours of honeysuckle and white jasmine, lingering on vanilla and brioche notes. Behind a frank and dynamic attack, the wine encompasses a nice harmony and a pleasant freshness, whilst preserving some structure.

Palate…On the palate, flavours of cooked fruit (quince jelly, apricot jam) happily mingle with fragrances of beeswax and acacia honey. The long-lasting aromas, composed of both fruity (candied orange peel, tangerine…) and spicy notes (cardamom, anis) is outstanding.

Food pairings… The structure and vinosity, elegance and freshness, captured in this Brut Réserve offer an optimum balance between power and finesse, making it a remarkable wine to be served as an apéritif, or to accompany a whole meal.

The Technical Details

The blend

33% Pinot Noir

33% Chardonnay

33% Pinot Meunier 

Terroir – from 30 different crus.

Reserve wines – 25%  

Terroir – Chavot & Epernay soft clay and chalk

Dosage – 9 g/l

Aged – for 4 years on lees. Each bottle is given a traditional remuage (hand riddling) before disgorging and dosage.

Fermentation – The alcoholic fermentation takes place at a low temperature (18°C) in temperature-controlled stainless steel vats, with each variety and the production of each village kept separate until final blending. All go through malolactic fermentation.

Annual Production – 1.6 million bottles 

What do you think of the Pol Roger Brut Réserve? If you are drinking it make sure you post a pic and tag @bubbleandflute #bubbleandflute #happychamper