Pol Roger Blanc de Blancs 2009
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Robert
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Winemaker Notes
The wine displays a pale yellow-gold color with delicate green glints and a remarkable effervescence in the glass. On the nose, the first notes are of pink grapefruit coupled with almond, imparting a delightful freshness and delicacy to the wine, which progressively yield to aromas of white flowers and apricot. On the palate, the texture is invigoratingly fresh and zesty, typical of this outstanding vintage.
The wine is harmoniously well-balanced and full-bodied. Initially flavors of green apple and citrus fruit prevail, however these give way to creamy aromas of butter and meringue, contributing to an overall impression of outstanding complexity. The finish is characterised by an enchanting vivacity and long-lasting aromas.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
With fruit from the Côte des Blancs, this is a classic, textured, mineral-driven Chardonnay Champagne. Its bottle age gives a toasty edge to the crisp, lively grapefruit and bitter orange flavors. Well balanced, this impressive wine is still likely to improve with aging. Drink now, but, better, wait until 2020.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Let it breathe a few minutes in the glass and Pol Roger's 2009 Brut Blanc de Blancs becomes truly exciting! Sourced in Oiry, Chouilly, Cramant, Avize and Oger (all grands crus from the Côte des Blancs), the wine opens with an intensely chalky, fresh and concentrated bouquet of white and yellow-fleshed fruits along with floral and spicy seed flavors as well as notes of wet, crushed limestone. Very deep but always pure and fresh. And so chalky! Full-bodied yet straight and fresh, with vibrating minerality and great finesse, this is a super elegant, tightly woven and persistent but weightless Côte des Blancs with a long, fresh and salty finish. This Cuvée was aged for seven years on the lees before being disgorged on May 30th, 2017. Tasted June 2018.
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Wine Spectator
Crisp and minerally, this tightly meshed, linear Champagne layers flavors of mirabelle plum, biscuit, smoke, white cherry and pickled ginger on the lacy mousse. Racy finish. Drink now through 2030.
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James Suckling
This has an air of ripeness with gently candied praline and grilled ripe peach fruits. The palate delivers lemon pastry and a smooth, custard-like texture. Really supple and fleshy. One to drink early.
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Wine & Spirits
This is a blend of chardonnay from the grand crus of Oiry, Chouilly, Cramant, Avize and Oger. It developed a broad texture through long aging on the lees, the full ripeness of the fruit coming through in white-cherry notes and a lanolin richness. And yet it still feels clean, a firm presence of limestone acidity lending the wine a classical line.
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Pol Roger is one of the few remaining family-owned grande marque Champagne houses. Their grande marque status was guaranteed at the turn of the century when about 20 producers banded together to establish exacting quality controls for Champagne. The annual production at Pol Roger - less than 120,000 cases - is found in the best restaurants of France, England, and the USA, and is exported to over 30 countries. Pol Roger also was the Champagne of choice of British dignitary Sir Winston Churchill, who once said of Champagne, "...In victory I deserve it, and in defeat I need it!".
Representing the topmost expression of a Champagne house, a vintage Champagne is one made from the produce of a single, superior harvest year. Vintage Champagnes account for a mere 5% of total Champagne production and are produced about three times in a decade. Champagne is typically made as a blend of multiple years in order to preserve the house style; these will have non-vintage, or simply, NV on the label. The term, "vintage," as it applies to all wine, simply means a single harvest year.
Associated with luxury, celebration, and romance, the region, Champagne, is home to the world’s most prized sparkling wine. In order to bear the label, ‘Champagne’, a sparkling wine must originate from this northeastern region of France—called Champagne—and adhere to strict quality standards. Made up of the three towns Reims, Épernay, and Aÿ, it was here that the traditional method of sparkling wine production was both invented and perfected, birthing a winemaking technique as well as a flavor profile that is now emulated worldwide.
Well-drained, limestone and chalky soil defines much of the region, which lend a mineral component to its wines. Champagne’s cold, continental climate promotes ample acidity in its grapes but weather differences from year to year can create significant variation between vintages. While vintage Champagnes are produced in exceptional years, non-vintage cuvées are produced annually from a blend of several years in order to produce Champagnes that maintain a consistent house style.
With nearly negligible exceptions, . These can be blended together or bottled as individual varietal Champagnes, depending on the final style of wine desired. Chardonnay, the only white variety, contributes freshness, elegance, lively acidity and notes of citrus, orchard fruit and white flowers. Pinot Noir and its relative Pinot Meunier, provide the backbone to many blends, adding structure, body and supple red fruit flavors. Wines with a large proportion of Pinot Meunier will be ready to drink earlier, while Pinot Noir contributes to longevity. Whether it is white or rosé, most Champagne is made from a blend of red and white grapes—and uniquely, rosé is often produce by blending together red and white wine. A Champagne made exclusively from Chardonnay will be labeled as ‘blanc de blancs,’ while ones comprised of only red grapes are called ‘blanc de noirs.’