Category: Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill

Yesterday Björnstierne started up the wine club ‘Food & wine by Björnstierne’ @ Broms – karlaplan. The tastinmg was a duell between old time favourites: Pol Roger, Bollinger & Louis Roederer.

nv POL ROGER ’BRUT RESERVE’ | EPERNAY | 33PN 33PM 34CH | aprox  389 SEK |  TASTINGNOTE  ‘I love the entire range of the firm’s products, from the regular non-vintage all the way to the Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill, and I guarantee you that every sound bottle you drink will impart a life-enhancing experience of pure joy. Some of the best bottles of nonvintage Champagne I have tasted have been well-stored Pol Roger. The ability to age with grace despite its Pinot Meunier content is the wine’s best asset. After a bad patch they are back on track again.’ RJpoints 75(85) 

2000 POL ROGER ’CUVEE WINSTON CHURCHILL’ | EPERNAY | ASSEMBLAGE SECRET | aprox  1 295 SEK |  TASTINGNOTE  ‘Not at all exciting when it was released. The tones are here but in an unusually weak form. Will time provide enough evolving to provide the desired push? Oh, yes. Already very worthy of its label. Nice smokey complexity. Fat and already matured.’ RJpoints 94(94)

nv LOUIS ROEDERER ’BRUT PREMIER’ | REIMS | 62PN 8PM 30CH   | aprox  399 SEK |  TASTINGNOTE  ‘Up to 20 percent of the oak-aged reserve wine is used in the nonvintage Champagne Brut Premier. Roederer has no set recipe regarding malolactic fermentation the personal qualities of the wine differ from case to case. Roederer is without doubt a brilliant Champagne house with an exceptional portfolio of wines. The nonvintage Champagne is brilliant. Invariably praised, nonvintage Champagne with a high proportion of reserve wines that had been stored in big oak barrels. Four years in the bottle before disgorging only the first pressing is used. For several years, an appley, storable, and decently good nonvintage Champagne. Today, a Cristal-like Champagne with outstanding finesse. Fantastic in magnum.’ RJpoints 83(91)

2006 LOUIS ROEDERER ’CRISTAL’ | REIMS | 60PN 40CH   | aprox  399 SEK |  TASTINGNOTE  ‘I quake at the thought of how much Cristal is going to be stolen from the cradle at nightclubs and fashionable restaurants in the rich parts of the world. But this version is just fantastic from the start. A colossal power and beautiful rumbling pinot maturity. It’s like chewing on the ripest grapes from Aÿ and Verzenay. At the same time ultra stylish down all the unmistakable cristal essence, peach and mango sweetness, pineapple coconut, vanilla and unreal sprightly acidity and citrus flowery. Many similarities with 2002, but with a clearer pinot touch.’ RJpoints 95(97)

nv BOLLINGER ’SPECIAL CUVEE ’ | AŸ | 60PN 15PM 25CH   | aprox  439 SEK |  TASTINGNOTE  ‘Yet again, one of my absolute favorites among nonvintage Champagnes. Since the beginning of the 1990s the wine has only been four years old when it enters the market and is vinified in steel vats. Even so, it’s fascinating to see how much 12 percent old reserve wines, vinified in oak barrels and stored in magnums, do to lift the product. The oakish, smoky, and deep Bollinger style develops after a couple of years in the bottle.’ RJpoints 81(89)

2004 BOLLINGER ’LA GRANDE ANNEE’ | AŸ | 60PN 40CH   | aprox  899 SEK |  TASTINGNOTE  ‘Richer and greater than I had expected. The oak maybe a little too obvious, but in the process of integration. Nice fresh fruitiness, delicious unobtrusive vanilla tones and a crisp minerality that in the current situation overshadows the mushroom tones.’ RJpoints 93(94)