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  
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