Pol Roger Brut Reserve N.V.

TAST­ING NOTES FROM THE CURATOR

With its beau­ti­ful gold col­or, its del­i­cate aro­ma, and its fine bub­bles, it’s easy to see why the Pol Roger Brut Reserve is one of the best cham­pagnes in the world.

This stun­ning cuvee is made with equal parts pinot noir (which gives struc­ture and body), pinot meu­nier (which brings fresh­ness and fruiti­ness), and chardon­nay (which lends it its aro­mat­ic com­plex­i­ty, light­ness, and elegance).

Aged for four years in the Pol Roger cel­lars, it gives notes of green apple and peach, with hints of brioche and bis­cuit, fin­ish­ing off with sug­ges­tions of cit­rus, lemon and lime. 

PREPA­RA­TION AND PAIRINGS

This is a cham­pagne for all occa­sions, and remark­able as an apéri­tif. Toast to good times over a plate of mild and soft cheeses, like gruyère, hal­lou­mi, feta, and camembert.

Or have it dur­ing meal times. It would be mag­nif­i­cent paired with fresh oys­ters. We sug­gest the Tar­bouriech Spe­ciale, to tru­ly height­en the expe­ri­ence. Or a plate of fresh­ly made creamy mush­room risot­to, or even a lob­ster dish.

Grab a glass to sip along with a lemon tart or a dark choco­late mousse for dessert.

A STO­RY OF PERSEVERANCE

Pol Roger put up his busi­ness in around 1849, under slight­ly des­per­ate cir­cum­stances. His father had con­tract­ed an incur­able dis­ease, and could no longer con­tin­ue his notary prac­tice. Ear­ly on, Pol Roger knew that he want­ed to focus on the pro­duc­tion of brut Cham­pagne. The brand had gained size­able recog­ni­tion by the time the founder died in 1899.

Despite part of their cel­lars col­laps­ing in 1900, and the rise of The Pro­hi­bi­tion in the Unit­ed States in the 1920’s, Pol Roger Cham­pagne per­se­vered, and kept on, and enjoyed good sales in many countries.

Win­ston Churchill’s sup­port and praise for the brand helped its rep­u­ta­tion and sales con­sid­er­ably post-war. And from the year 2000, Pol Roger Cham­pagne has only grown, adopt­ing more expan­sive sales strate­gies, and launch­ing new cuvees, cement­ing its 160-year rep­u­ta­tion as one of the lead­ing cham­pagne brands.

Storage Instructions

Fine sparkling wine must be han­dled with care. For short-term stor­age (a few days to a month), you can keep your bot­tle upright — but away from bright or arti­fi­cial light. For long-term stor­age, espe­cial­ly for vin­tage cuvées, you must store the bot­tles on their side in a wine rack or cel­lar to keep the cork from dry­ing out. The ide­al tem­per­a­ture for stor­age is between 7 to 10°C. Once opened, a bot­tle will be good for 1 to 3 days stand­ing upright in the refrigerator.

1 Pairing

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