Premier – 2013 Pol Roger ‘Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill’

Samples of the 2013 has been sent to Richard Juhlin. Below You can read tasting note & review by the no1 champagne expert in the world.

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

Champagne Pol Roger has released the latest vintage of its Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill. The wine is being offered for £1,920 per case (£960 6×75) by the trade.

The 2013 vintage is the 20^th release of the house’s prestige cuvée. The wine was rated 97-points by Antonio Galloni (Vinous). He said it was ‘expressive right out of the gate’ but that it still, ‘really needs time to open a bit’.

The Wine Advocate’s William Kelley, gave it a score of 96-points. He added that it had ‘turned out especially well’ and was a ‘penetrating rendition of Churchill that stands out for its charm and effortlessness’.

Fair Value

The 2013 enters the market at a 9.7% premium on the current Market Price of the 2012 (£1,750 12×75). Both have the same score from the Wine Advocate, suggesting that the 2012 offers better relative value. However, the 2013 has a stronger score than many back vintages and looks good value in comparison.

source livex.com

2013 Pol Roger Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill                             

(apr-22)

‘It is striking that Winston Churchill is now lighter and more shy at launch than they used to be in the past. On the other hand, they seem to end up very close to the older vintages after a few years of their own storage. This slow development with Verzenay as such a clear mineral-rich stringent protagonist is noticeable not least in the glass. Just like in 2012, the wine is much more impressive and rounded rich a few hours after opening the bottle. Then a little cautiously, the whole Winston bouquet appears in the form of baguette, dark chocolate, strawberry jam, olives, gunpowder smoke, black coffee and sweet gravenstein apples. Drink after 2028.’

90(94)p

SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL & POL ROGER

Britain’s legendary prime minister was a great supporter of Pol Roger’s champagne. Already in 1908, Winston Churchill bought his first bottle of Pol Roger and his love for the drink rose even more after a successful meeting at a lunch in 1944 with the British ambassador in France a few months after Paris liberation. At the lunch, the 1928 Pol Roger vintage champagne was served and among the guests there was the beautiful Odette Pol-Roger. Churchill and Odette came along very well and a friendship that lasted until Churchill’s death in 1965 was created. Her street address in Épernay, 45 rue de Champagne, was according to Winston Churchill ‘The world’s most drinkable address’.

There are many stories about Sir Winston Churchill and alcohol, ranging from drinking hard spirits in the early hours of the morning to some claiming that he drank 42,000 (!) Bottles of Pol Roger Champagne throughout his lifetime. Perhaps these champagne figures have been raised to mythical levels, considering that Churchill would drink 467 bottles of Pol Roger during each of the 90 years he achieved. Even the champagne house, named after its cuvée priest after him, claims that Churchill did not touch a single bottle of Pol Roger before 1908, when already in his 30’s.

’My tastes are simple, I am easily satisfied with the best’

Sir Winston Churchill

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