Pol Roger Rose 2002
An intense, brilliant pink colour. A powerful bouquet discloses concentrated citrus fruit aromas, even stewed strawberries. In the mouth, the balance between minerality and firmness from the tannins and the mature fruit has produced a full-bodied Champagne, full of personality.
The finish reveals the wine’s youthfulness and suggests that it has a bright future both on its own and when paired with food.
Produced by Pol Roger, like all its Vintage styles, only in years when growing and harvest conditions can produce grapes of sufficient standard, the Pinot Noir and Chardonnay musts underwent 2 cold settlings before fermentation in stainless steel to preserve the fruit characteristics of the wine. The wine then had 15% still red Pinot Noir wine from the village of Chouilly added to the blend which was then transferred to bottle for its second fermentation and ageing in the cellars.
Grape Variety:
60% Pinot Noir 40% Chardonnay with 15% Coteaux Champenois Rouge (or Grand Cru Pinot Noir vinified as a red wine) added later.
Dosage - 10.5 g/l
Background Information:
Pol Roger, a Champenois from Aÿ, founded his champagne house in Epemay in 1849. Over the next 50 years, until his death in 1899, he built his business into one of the most respected in Champagne and, in particular, forged strong trade links with Britain. The founder was succeeded by his sons, Maurice and Georges, who changed their names to Pol-Roger by deed poll and, thereafter, by a further three generations of his direct descendants. To this day the company remains small, family-owned, fiercely independent and unrivalled in its reputation for quality
Pol Roger own 87 hectares of prime vineyard sites spread over the Montagne de Reims, the Vallée de Ia Marme, the Vallée d'Epemay and the Côte des Blancs. This supply is supplemented by grapes purchased on long-term contracts with growers based on the best sites in the region. Total production at Pol Roger is in the region of 1.5 million bottles per annum, making them one of the smaller of the Grandes Marques.
The cellars extend some 7 kilometres beneath the streets of Epernay and are carved out of the local chalk over three levels, the deepest known as the ‘cave de prise de mousse’ at 33m below street level. As the name suggests this is where the wine undergoes its secondary fermentation in bottle. This deep cellar is at 9° or less, rather than a normal cellar temperature of 11-12°, thus prolonging this fermentation.
They are amongst the coolest and deepest cellars in the region, a factor which contributes to the famously fine bubbles in Pol Roger's champagnes.
