Experience Churchill’s premier Champagne
The Champagne for those who know. We take a look at the aesthetically endearing and particularly beautiful taste of the Pol Roger Champagne brand, one that hones a flattering reputation for their high-quality production of exceptional sparkling wine for over 165 years. Creating a distinctive taste that has initiated an intimate adoration from the likes of Sir Winston Churchill, it’s our pick of the top Champagne to try this summer.
The extensive heritage of the family-owned, fiercely independent business has been prized for its perfection of taste and unrivalled stance in the Champagne world; effectively the Calvin Klein of underwear or the Gary Barlow of Take That. With its impressively sporadic history in experiencing both success and catastrophe, one thing the Pol-Roger family has made sure of is that the quality has always remained consistent.
The Maison Pol Roger, the parental home of Pol Roger, owns 91 hectares of vineyards (around 225 acres), and features on prime sites in the Vallee de la Marne, the Montagne de Reims and on the Cote des Blancs; think Russell Crowe in A Good Year’s picturesque landscape. The cellars run for 7km and are on three levels, which is extensively large to allow the eclectic range of wine that Pol Roger offers to be produced effectively, whilst maintaining quality. As with every successful brand, there is often a secret to the make up of the product, like Coca-Cola’s secret ingredient or Aldi’s hidden charm, Pol Roger’s secret to the unique and distinctive taste is down to the prolonging of fermentation, using the famous ‘cave de prise de mousse’ which is hidden 34 metres below street level to house the wine at 9°C, exclusively different to a normal cellar temperature of 11-12°C… and yes gentlemen, that really does matter.
Perhaps the most notable icon to tip their hat to the brand was British hero, and piquant quote-vendor Sir Winston Churchill, who fell into deep adoration with the marque after a meeting with French beauty Odette Pol-Roger. What blossomed was an affable relationship between Churchill, Odette and the Champagne; from then on Pol Roger on ice was to greet him on the Côte d’Azur, in Washington or Marrakech. Even in 1952 when he received the Freedom of Strasbourg, the Press reported that he had insisted on Pol Roger 1928. If the wisdom of Sir Winston is anything to live by, then we suggest you follow suit with his taste in Champagne.
Further represented by Pol Roger is Robert Sinskey; based in the Los Carneros and Stags Leap districts of Napa and Sonoma Valleys, he has grown his 100% organic and biodynamic certified winegrowing operation to more than 200 acres of premium vineyards over the past twenty-five years. The idea of biodynamic agriculture is to reject chemicals in favour of a more organic approach, and Robert Sinskey believes that the goals of making luxuriously elegant wines and farming with earth friendly methods are not mutually exclusive. On the contrary, he has found that caring for the land and conscientious business practices have helped to define the well-crafted and characterful Robert Sinskey wines. The selection of wine makes a fantastic addition to a range of articulated meals, and we believe that it is a must try for the soi-disant connoisseur.
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