Thanks to Johnny for sharing this classic oldie!

Pol Roger Brut Rose 1988 Champagne (750ml)

Composition: 40% Chardonnay; 60% Pinot Noir, in which around 15% is vinified as red wine.

The highly reputed champagne house of Pol Roger has only one rose in the range: the vintage-dated Brut Rose, which is rose d'assemblage by adding around 15% Pinot Noir red wine to the traditional Pol Roger vintage blend. When first released, Pol Roger Brut Rose Vintage often exudes roundness, delicacy and subtlety, with cushiony, caressing mousse. Yet I had not tried an old/mature vintage of Pol's Rose to experience the evolution... so when my buddie Johnny told me he had managed to source some Pol Roger Brut Rose 1988 from a private collector’s cellar in Germany, I was quite thrilled -- personally, I always prefer champagnes with a serious style and a certain level of austerity (to me, this is champagne’s dignity!) throughout their lifetime. Thus the tightly-built and poised 1988 vintage is naturally one of my very favorites!     

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Tasted on Feb. 29, 2012 

Well chilled. Served upon popping the cork and then sealed with champagne stopper. Afterwards, we deliberately left the bottle @ room temperature (around 20 DEG.C) to allow for gradual warm-up. 

Salmon-copper robe.

When first poured, a whiff of cognac on the nose – indication of evolution and vinosity. The nose closed for a while, then gradually opened up with refined mineral scents and decadent Pinot aromas, reminiscent of a fine Burgundian Rouge in elegance and sophistication.

Though beads were barely perceptible in the glass, the mousse was still vivaciously felt in the mouth. The taste struck an enviable balance between maturity and vigor, intensity and elegance: earthy notes, autumnal complexities, ripe cherry and candied raspberry all fused together by a spine of live-giving acidity, which lifted the aftertaste with freshness and promised for graceful ageing ahead.  

With aeration and warming-up, saline minerality and meaty notes prevailed, with vinosity more pronounced. Then it further evolved towards preserved plum and cognac. 

This one impressed us through its intensity and poised sophistication, rather than richness or weight.

A well built, serious rose, with depth and vigor that would support further cellaring.