2018 Pol Roger Brut Vintage
Estimated value
Buying options
Tasting notes
Full bottle 1,581 g. 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay from 20 grand and premier cru villages in the Montagne de Reims and the Côte des Blancs. Aged 33 m below ground level and hand-riddled before being disgorged December 2023. Rich, floral nose with a real spread of power on both nose and palate. Really very winning! Lemon-cream flavours – very seductive. Long. This has really opened out since I first tasted it from magnum in March 2024. Definitely rich – a world away from a zero-dosage grower champagne – but it should be hugely enjoyable in the relatively short term. (JR)
Critic scores
Average Score
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
60% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay. The first vintage for new cellarmaster Damien Cambres. There will be a 2019 vintage but no 2020 or 2021. 100% malolactic conversion. Dosage 7 g/l. A weighty style with warmth and generosity on the palate. Yellow-plum and greengage fruit. Crisp acid keeping everything fresh. (AWH)
The 2018 Vintage is a very pretty, open-knit Champagne to drink now and over the next 10-15 years. In a vintage in which so many wines are on the lighter side, the 2018 is super-expressive, with lovely depth and impeccable balance. The 2018 can be enjoyed now, but I would prefer to cellar it for a year or two. Hints of pear, dried flowers, kirsch and mint are nicely layered on a spine of fruit and structure.
Magnum served at Pol Roger's 175th anniversary celebration at Oswald's in London. It took four weeks to pick all the crop (cf 10 days for the 2023). Very zesty with strong citrus notes. Still quite tight from magnum but very respectable. CEO Laurent d'Harcourt of Pol remarked that 'it had to be good after 2017' and that it was made in much bigger quantity. Much is expected of the 2019. (JR)
About the producer
Pol Roger is one of Champagne’s most respected Grandes Marques. While it is best known undoubtedly for its prestige cuvée Sir Winston Churchill, it also produces one of the finest non-vintage bottlings on the market.