Consulenza personale
Pol Roger owns over 85 hectares of vineyards, mostly located close to their seat in Epernay on the Cote de Blancs: Mardeuil, Chouilly, Pierry, Moussy, Chavot, Cuis, Cramant, and Grauves. For Winston Churchill chardonnay grand cru grapes from Cramant and Chouilly make up 25 percent of the blend. The remaining 75 percent are pinot noir from Ay, Bouzy and Ambonnay, the best pinot noir grand cru with steep southern slopes that give ripe, powerful pinot noir base wines providing Winston Churchill with concentration, body and structure. The chardonnay provides freshness, acidity and aromatic complexity and a certain energy and sparkle. Only old vines are used for Winston Churchill, with the youngest being planted before the death of Winston Churchill in 1965. To commemorate this idiosyncratic forceful prime minister, in 1984 Pol Roger released the Cuvee Winston Churchill 1975 that was available only in magnums.
After the first gentle pressing, of course only the first pressing is used, the must settles and clears for a first tie to be chilled down to 6 centigrade and settles for another 24 hours. The individual components, both varietals and vineyards, are then transferred to stainless steel and ferment at low temperatures not exceeding 18 centigrade and after alcoholic fermentation they undergo malolactic fermentation. After that the components are blended in a proportion respecting the style of Winston Churchill but also reflecting the character of each vintage. While the proportion of pinot noir and chardonnay remains stable at three to one, the choice of vineyards and their proportion varies. After assemblage Winston Churchill is bottle fermented for a good eight years. The 2006 was disgorged in January 2017 with a dosage of 8 g/l. The vinification is main stream in practice and the secret of the exceptional quality of this icon is the quality of grapes and masterful blending by cellarmaster Dominique Petit who has just retired.
2006 is a classic year with powerful, intense, ripe wines and good acidity. Many 2006s are beginning to open up but the best need more time.
The Winston Churchill 2006 has a fine, creamy mousse, which is also due to the below average temperature of the Pol Roger cellars. The bouquet smells of ripe, yellow apple and peach but also pinot noir typical raspberries and cherry and a touch of lime and tangerine. Ther also is a spicy scent of hazlenut, almond and pistachio with slighly yeasty, vanilla scents of freshly baked brioche. On the palate the acidity is so well integrated with the fruit, that it subtly focuses and prolongs the palate that is dominated by aromas of apple, quince, dried apricot, lime, almond and hazlenut. As temperature mounts in the glass it gets fuller and rounder. You sense great concentration, intensity and length, that are integrated by the perfect acidity and minerality into the general picture of freshness and elegance.
The Winston Churchill 2006 is aromatically little developed but impresses with its harmony and intensity. It should be cellared for a minimum of five years before it will display its full firework of aromas and harmonies.
Winston Churchill has the body and the acidity to go with rich, intensely flavored food. Especially if you give the 2006 another five to ten years in cellar, it can accompany a whole set menu. Avoid sauces with sugar and balsamic vinegar. A braised chicken de bresse or veal sweetbread with morels and sauced with a mature champagne are a particularly good match.
Uno sguardo nel
Alfavin Keller
La cantina Alfavin è la nostra promessa per voi.
In una cantina di montagna appositamente adattata, i nostri vini e champagne selezionati a mano sono conservati in condizioni ideali. Il fresco naturale e l'umidità costante assicurano che ogni goccia mantenga tutta la sua eleganza.
Spediamo direttamente da questa cantina a voi, per garantire una qualità perfetta e un'esperienza di gusto senza pari.