Thanks Johnny for sharing such goldie bubbly and nice photos!

Pol Roger Cuvee Sir Winston Churchill 1986 Brut Champagne (750ml)

Grape proportions are kept as a secret recipe, but believed to be around 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay

Tasted in August, 2010

Thanks Johnny for this rare find sourced from a private collector in Germany. It turns out to be yet another proof of the perfect natural condition in European underground cellars (no wonder one of the world’s best wine fridges is named ‘EuroCave’!)

As the cork is popped, the pressure is very healthy!

Served upon uncorking. Then bottle-breathing in ice-bucket without champagne stopper.

Very pale golden robe, with a truly fine bead in persistent effervescence. It looks surprisingly youthful! But just a sniff, and we feel heady – this one is in full blossom now, with switched-on power, complexity and richness! The nose and the palate are highly consistent -- powerful and assertive -- initially a short but intense spell of rancio notes, soon overtaken by a cocoon of almost saturated honey, wrapping up a feast ranging from biscuit, truffle, dried dark fruits to roasted nuts and chalky minerality…

It constantly evolves in the glass. 5 minutes after uncorking, intense scents of walnut dominate the nose, mingled with subtle seaside note and perfume of sandalwood. The taste is still wonderfully honeyed, but the flavor of walnut stands out on the finish. Just in the very next moment, honeyed, oily dark fruits return on the nose, and terrific acidity cuts through the honeyed richness.

9 minutes: the palate grows creamy with depth of butterscotch.

11 minutes: an intriguing note of wet wool joins the scent of walnut.

17 minutes: newly poured. Perfume of sandalwood and walnut. The taste is exquisitely fine, with plenty of teasing bubbles remaining and a touch of exuberant maturity.

22 minutes: subtle aromas of toffee and coffee. The palate is soft, creamy and buttery with coffee finesse.

25 minutes: brisk sea breeze, toffee, chalk, cheese and walnut scents, all in subtlety. Exquisite, masterful blend!

There is a period (roughly from 30 to 45 minutes after uncorking) when the palate becomes rather one-dimensional, with acidity being a bit too dominant. And we begins to worry about its status…But it soon revives with a new balance of sour-sweetness and truffle v.s. walnut bouquet, and then stays in good shape (with chocolaty charm slowly building) till we finish the very last drops around 1 hour and 10 minutes after uncorking.

It strikes me with both substance and finesse, exuberance and elegance. What a treat!