Pol
Roger Blanc de Blancs
An vertical tasting of this great Champagne
Pol Roger is a
small, family-owned Champagne house making around 1.6 million
bottles, but it has a visibility in the UK market that belies this
size. ‘Our fame in the UK is great,’ says Patrice Noyelle (below),
Pol Roger president, ‘and lots of people think we are much bigger.
I consider small is beautiful. One of the most important steps is
riddling—we riddle everything by hand.’
As well as being
president of Pol Roger, a position he has held for 15 years, Noyelle
is also director of Clos du Tart in Burgundy, which is owned by his
wife. Noyelle’s love for Burgundy was shown during the lunch,
where, in an event focusing on Champagne, he poured a magnum of
Drouhin’s Beaune 1er Cru Greves 1993.
This lunch and
tasting focused on Pol Roger’s vintage Blanc de Blanc, which is
produced in small quantities from Grand Cru vineyards.
Interestingly, it is never produced in magnums, just single bottles.
It was a
remarkable line-up of Champagnes, and I’ll let the notes speak for
themselves.
THE
WINES
Champagne Pol
Roger Blanc de Blancs Vintage 2000
Fresh, rich, dense and balanced with nice weight and good
balance of power and freshenss. Some toast. 93/100
Champagne Pol
Roger Blanc de Blancs Vintage 2002
For the first time this contains a component from Mesnil sur
Oger. Taut, precise and youthful. Crisp and citrussy, with great
finesse and good acidity. Youthful with notes of white peach, citrus
and herb. 94/100
Champagne Pol
Roger Blanc de Blancs Vintage 1998
Youthful and taut with some apricot and tangerine notes , as
well as toast and almond. Nice freshness and pithiness. Fine with
good acidity. Powerful yet pure, beginning to develop richness and
complexity. 94/100
Champagne Pol
Roger Blanc de Blancs Vintage 1990
Rich, warm, toasty and ripe with nut and peach aromatics. The
palate is ripe but very fresh with fine, spicy citrus notes, a bit
of grapefruit and nice precision, despite the richness. 95/100
Champagne Pol
Roger Blanc de Blancs Vintage 1988
Very warm and toasty. Broad, with a hint of toffee and some nice
rich aromatics. Fine and fresh on the palate with lovely citrus ,
toast and apricot characters, as well as a hint of tangerine.
Evolving beautifully. 95/100
Champagne Pol
Roger Blanc de Blancs Vintage 1996
Fresh, fine and precise with pithy grapefruit and citrus
characters as well as subtle toastiness. So fine, lively and precise
with great acidity and an eternal finish. A remarkable Champagne.
97/100
Champagne Pol
Roger Blanc de Blancs Vintage 1986
Taut and fresh with citrus fruit complemented by fine apple and
herb notes. Precise with some mature truffle character, but the main
theme is fresh, pure citrus fruit, showing fabulous depth and
complexity. 96/100
See
also:
Champagne
Taittinger Comtes vertical
Visiting
Champagne Bollinger (series)
Wines
tasted 10/12
Find these wines with wine-searcher.com
Back
to top
|