POL ROGER 2004

When I first had Pol Roger, I was not very impressed. Why? I suppose it was too opulent too round and with aggressive bubbles. Perhaps I was wrong. Perhaps, I was inexperienced. But that was over 12 years ago and since then I tasted a few vintages and other products from the Pol Roger range. And over those 12 years I have selected a few producers whose vintage releases I follow religiously to taste the expressions of the year in which they are released. I am happy to say that Pol Roger Vintage is one the new additions to the club. So what was it like? The vintage 2004 in Veuve, Bollinger, showed similar signs as 1995. Great, and I mean grand, chunky, rich, lean in taste and expressive on the nose. Typically pinot noir based wines, and rich oxidative character this year and the wine have a very down to earth character. Where 95 was elusive, almost esoteric with Bollinger, structured and bodied in Veuve they both showed exquisite potential for aging with almost eternal elegance. 2004, is slightly old for its age in the bottle, but bearing in mind that the wine had a lot more on lees than 95 it is only to be expected. In 2006 I tasted it as R.D. and I could draw very interesting parallels without compromising the expression of the house styles. Anyway, I highly recommend it. I am reticent to ambush you with my 'objectified' notes on it because I stopped making them and started to focus on spontaneous expression. Cheers Peter