1998 Pol Roger Cuvee Winston Churchill
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Tasting notes
The nose of the 1998 Champagne Cuvée Winston Churchill Vinoteque is layered and complex, with decadent aromatics of preserved grapefruit, pastry cream, croissant, Mirabel plum, and frangipane. The palate is refined and inviting, with an elegant, rounded mousse that softens the linear drive that holds it together with lovely focus. Elegant and refined all the way through, with a lovely feel, it’s aging beautifully, and while 2002 is a more powerful vintage, this offers a lot of balance and finesse, with a refreshing spine of acidity seaming it together. Drink it over the coming 10-15 years. Disgorged in 2008.
Critic scores
Average Score
Wine Spectator
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
More reviews and scores
The 1998 Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill Vinothèque is a fabulous choice for readers who want to enjoy a fully mature Champagne. Apricot jam, spice, baked apple tart, honey, passion fruit, orange marmalade and butter are all beautifully amplified. Readers will find a heady, exotic Champagne that dazzles both the intellectual and hedonistic senses. I would prefer to drink this at the dinner table along a suitably rich, complex dish – maybe lobster or Dover Sole with a lot of butter.
Very developed, with a certain musty-cellar funk that delivers mature satisfaction. Fresh green-apple skin adds enough zip and balance, and there is wonderful persistence too. Despite the development of the nose there are a few more years of cellaring potential on the palate. (RH)
Disgorged October 2008. Deep gold. Really mature and savoury. Dense and tight knit at first. Mature. Long and reverberant with great undertow. But with time in the glass it seemed tiny bit loose. Not sure this bottle is that much better than the Vintage 1998? (JR)
About the producer
Pol Roger is one of Champagne’s most respected Grandes Marques. While it is best known undoubtedly for its prestige cuvée Sir Winston Churchill, it also produces one of the finest non-vintage bottlings on the market.