Pol Roger Brut 2018 Vintage Champagne 75cl

The 2018 Brut Vintage from Champagne Pol Roger is made from the traditional house vintage blend of 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay from 20 Grands and Premiers crus vineyards in the Montagne de Reims and the Côte des Blancs. Produced only in limited quantities the Brut Vintage 2018 has been aged in our deep cellars before being disgorged and released onto the market

Tasting Note

Pale yellow in colour; still looking youthful. Weighty stone-fruit on the nose evoking richness and intensity, alongside enticing elements of yeast contact. Abundant complexity and body on the palate with ne length and proper acidity. Still young and tight, but a serious young Pol Roger Vintage nonetheless. With some time to develop this will be a worthy successor to 1988, 1998 and 2008.

Champagne’s geographical location engenders unpredictable weather. For this reason, since their foundation in 1849 Pol Roger has observed the tradition of not releasing a vintage-dated Champagne unless the climatic conditions permit the production of grapes of outstanding ripeness. A vintage Champagne must, above all else, be a balanced Champagne. This balance depends on the right blend of healthy grapes, a good potential alcohol and correct acidity. The first criterion for declaring a vintage wine is its capacity to age. Devotees who have the patience to age their Champagnes are rewarded with a more complex and richer wine.

The Story of the Vintage

Aer an exceptionally wet and gloomy end to 2017, temperatures dropped to their lowest point during a cold February. is was accompanied by some snowfall, but also some welcome sunshine a er months of grey weather. en, from April to June, a combination of sunshine and temperatures above the ten-year average led to a rapid development of the fruit. Full owering was recorded on the 30th of May for the Chardonnay, followed by the 2nd of June for the Pinot Noir and the 3rd of June for the Meunier — a total of ten days ahead of the ten-year average.

Vinification and Maturation

The must undergoes two débourbages (settlings), one at the press house immediately after pressing and the second, a débourbage à froid, in stainless steel tanks at 6°C over a 24 hour period. A slow cool fermentation with the temperature kept under 18°C takes place in stainless steel, with each variety and each village kept separate until final blending. The wine undergoes a full malolactic fermentation. Secondary fermentation takes place in bottle at 9°C in the deepest Pol Roger cellars (33 metres below street level) where the wine is kept until it undergoes remuage (riddling) by hand, a rarity in Champagne nowadays. Produced only in limited quantities the Brut Vintage 2016 has been aged for 7 years in our cellars before being disgorged and released onto the market. The very fine and persistent mousse for which Pol Roger is renowned owes much to these deep, cool and damp cellars.