2018 Pol Roger Cuvee Sir Winston Churchill Brut, Champagne, France (750ml)

  • $499.99
  • $324.99
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2018 Pol Roger Cuvee Sir Winston Churchill Brut, Champagne, France (750ml)

  • $499.99
  • $324.99

WINEMAKER'S NOTES: 

The 21st vintage of the Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill is an alluring mid-yellow-gold with a fine stream of bubbles, both characteristics of the length of time this wine has spent in the famously cool Pol Roger cellars. The nose opens with notes of spices and pepper. A good intensity of black fruit follows, showing the fine concentration and density of the wine. The complexity is obvious: a bouquet of dried fruit and hazelnut overlayed with notes of exotic fruits. The aromas are particularly open and impressive. On the palate, candied fruit notes accompany hints of pastries, brioche and cocoa, broad and mouth-filling. Delightfully structured, the large proportion of Pinot Noir gives the roundness and gravity that one expects from this cuvée. Despite the wine's relative youth, it is starting to show some smoky weight and good grip with broad, rich and long acidity. Full bodied and generous, the wine culminates with terrific length. Drink now or over the next 20 years.

The weight, balance and mineral freshness means that this champagne could be served with Parmigano Reggiano matured for 18 months, a stuffed capon façon demi-deuil or sweetbreads cooked with morels.

TASTING NOTES: 

The nose is elegant and crystalline, showing fresh orchard fruit, light toffee cream, yeast and saline-stone aromas. The palate is finely textured, with a talcum-like chalkiness supporting soft florals, yellow peach and gentle yeast through the finish. Elegant, persistent and built for the long haul. Editors' Choice.

- Wine Enthusiast, 97 pts. 

Like a finely tailored suit, this exhibits impeccable harmony, class and attention to detail. Integrates a firmly structured spine of acidity with flavors of ripe plum, candied lemon peel, lightly toasted hazelnut, brioche and chamomile, caressing the palate with the plush, creamy mousse. Long on the finish, with mineral, graphite and spice hints, this is hard to stop sipping now but should reward those who wait with even greater expression in years to come. Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Drink now through 2045.

- Wine Spectator, 97 pts. 

The 2018 Champagne Cuvee Sir Winston Churchill Brut is spicy with white pepper, tobacco leaf, and delicate currant, but today the raspberry and citrus shine more brightly. Coming from the Grand Cru, it features chocolate cherries, with hints of cocoa and a frothy mousse, but it needs time to come together. It’s refreshing in its acidity, with a pillowy mousse, and is a pleasing vintage. Drink 2025-2050.

- Jeb Dunnuck, 96 pts. 

This has complex aromas of croissant, acacia flowers, raw walnuts, flint and oyster shells. Very sleek, tight and structured on the palate, showing elegance and chalky minerality underneath. Seamless, classy finish with a deliciously dry, lightly phenolic citrus pith character coming through. Grand cru pinot noir with some chardonnay. Disgorged June 2024. Drink now or hold.
- James Suckling, 96 pts. 
The 2018 Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill is supremely classy and polished, just as it was last year. Crushed rocks, slate, mint, chalk and dried herbs all race through to the intensely vibrant, mineral-drenched finish. This is so resonant, so sculpted. I would give the 2018 at least a few years in bottle, as recent tastings suggest it is entering a period of dormancy. 
- Vinous 96 pts. 
After the 2015, the 2018 Sir Winston Churchill represents a notable return to form for this cuvée, finding an impressive level of depth and savour in a vintage sometimes marked by lack of intensity. The polish of ripe grand cru Pinot Noir shines through here, with plenty of black plum, blackberry and dark honey aromas, with brown butter and pastry richness lurking. There's certainly some fruit maturity here, and this may be a Sir Winston with a little more early-drinking charm than some, but it's a fine and true rendition of this cuvée's generous spirit.
- Decanter, 95 pts. 

Disgorged in June 2024 with a dosage of seven grams per liter, Pol Roger’s 2018 Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill introduces itself with aromas of ripe pear, candied tangerine peel and peach mingling with dried fruit. On the palate, it is full-bodied, vinous and broad-shouldered, with a rich core of fruit and an ample, textural mid-palate, underpinned by ripe yet vibrant acidity. The wine concludes with a long, enveloping finish. Reflective of the warm growing season with a late-August harvest, this is a giving Sir Winston Churchill—undeniably in the more muscular register, with ample gourmand flesh and a presently blocky density that will reward some patience.

Unlike many other large Champagne houses, Pol Roger consolidates its entire production process—from must reception to bottling—within a single site in the town of Épernay. And to this day, it remains one of the few family-owned large houses in the region, with family members involved as shareholders.

- Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 94 pts. 

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