Pol Roger: Champagne Brut Vintage 2015

Decanter über: Champagne Brut Vintage

-- Decanter: ‘Full, generous and voluptuous’ is how 5th generation family member Hubert de Billy describes the 2015 vintage of Pol Roger. Having decided against declaring 2014, the house was far from anxious about the flamboyant 2015 season, which managed somehow to combine periods of humidity with such intense mid-summer heat that there was almost a drought. Hubert describes the September conditions, however, as ‘a perfect dream scenario’ for harvest and the best fruit from 20 key grand and premier cru villages was earmarked for this wine. Six and a bit years down the track and there is little to challenge such confidence. This is indeed a very fine Pol Roger, finesse, complexity and signature Pol pedigree writ large all over its beaming face. Lively gold with a silver aureole and small, elegant bubbles, the 2015 seduces immediately with its welcoming sunny disposition, spring flowers, citrus fruit and hints of brioche all conspiring in the seduction scene. This is, if anything, accentuated on the palate, with Viennese patisserie, soft honey and hints of frangipane and nougat all tempting the senses. Beneath it all classic Pol Roger harmony, every component playing its part and not a hair out of place. Dignified and regal on the finish, the 2015 manages both to excite with its sheer vivacity and reassure with its composure. 94/100