POL ROGER CHAMPAGNE
Number 21
After a cold year for the 20th vintage (2013), the 21st edition of our cuvée “hommage” to Sir Winston Churchill was the product of a warm vintage this time.
2015 has no more secrets to hold for Pol Roger lovers, given that the vintage will have been revealed through the trilogy of Blanc de Blancs Vintage, Brut Vintage and Rosé Vintage, on the market since last year. The richness characteristic of this year of sunshine carries unmistakable echoes of the muscularity which has always been the hallmark of the cuvée Sir Winston Churchill. According to Damien Cambres, Chef de Caves, the complexity of this latest edition is already in evidence. More expressive in infancy than its predecessor the 2013, the 2015 vintage of the cuvée Sir Winston Churchill is already “un très grand vin”.
As tradition demands, this latest vintage of the cuvée was launched at the end of March in England by Hubert de Billy, Fifth Generation of the family, after Laurent d’Harcourt,Président du Directoire, had obtained the “blessing” of the Churchill family some weeks earlier.
Rare 2016’s
If we had the good fortune to be able to declare our four wines as “vintage” in 2015, only the Brut Vintage and the Blanc de Blancs would qualify for this honour in 2016. And why is that?
This is the perfect opportunity to remind readers that the absolute priority of the Maison remains centred on the Brut Non-Vintage. Contrary to what anyone might think, the assemblages are first composed with this cuvée rather than the vintage cuvées in mind. If we were to reserve the best grapes for those wines with potentially the greatest commercial value, the Maison’s
“flagship” would inevitably suffer as a result. Pol Roger has preferred, therefore, to put a restraint on the volume sales of this vintage in order to protect the Brut Réserve, whose mission it is to embody the house- style. Nonetheless, 2016 has given us two very fine cuvées, one of which is now completing its ageing in our cellars. Patience...
Sexual confusion in the Pol Roger vines
On 12th April this year, teams from the Maison were to be found among the vines to conduct the most important operation of early spring.
Since the 1990s, Champagne has been at the forefront of “sexual confusion” and, in terms of surface-area covered, remains to this day the leading French vineyard region to practise this technique of collective bio-control. “Sexual confusion” consists of placing diffusers among the vines which saturate the air with pheromones - the substance diffused naturally by female butterflies - thus disturbing the mating pattern of the males. The procedure seriously disrupts the reproduction of the butterflies and thereby the appearance of cochylis and eudemis larvae, insects destructive to the vine. This alternative method to the use of insecticides enables control of a range of destructive pests, which varies widely according to different climatic conditions.
The success of “sexual confusion” relies on a collective effort: every parcel of vines must be covered for the operation to be effective across the whole appellation. It is customary therefore for a maximum number of vignerons to be assembled through the morning so that the placing of the diffusers can be coordinated throughout the appellation. At Pol Roger, all those taking part will partake of a traditional pate-croute champenois, accompanied by a glass of Brut Réserve, before the end of the exercise.