New Release. Price £95.00. Tasting Notes: Pale raspberry with fine copper glints. The nose is opulent and well structured, with red berries and a rich spicy depth. Savour now for freshness or keep for many years to come for a richer and more opulent wine. The palate is taut, with arefreshing backbone of acidity, that rounds out to a sensation of bursting red-currants. A lively finish that is impressively long. Food Pairings: The Brut Rosé 2012 is the ideal choice to accompany fish such as grilled salmon or even sushi. It also marries perfectly with fruit tarts and other fruit desserts; try pairing with a forced Rhubarb fool, the sharpness of the fruit complementing the elegant structure of the wine. Grape Variety: Pol Roger does not make a Non-Vintage Rosé, preferring to release only in vintage years. The Brut Rose Vintage is produced from a blend of 50% Pinot Noir and 35% Chardonnay drawn from some 20 Premiers and Grands crus on the “Montagne de Reims” and the “Côte des Blancs”. In order to obtain its delicate colour and subtle nose 15% Pinot Noir, from selected vineyards in Bouzy, Ambonnay and Cumieres, is vinified “en rouge” and added to the blend prior to the second fermentation. Dosage – 8g/l 2012 Harvest: Winter was mild and dry, however there was a cold snap at the beginning of February.Following cool and rainy weather in early spring, unseasonal warm weather prevailed in late March, favouring an advanced budbreak. Hot, sunny weather from late July through to the first days of September, ensured that the grapes reached an ideal maturity.These yields were low, but the grapes were in excellent health. Harvesting lasted from 10th to 26th September. The 2012 crop showed a potential average. Alcohol content of 10.6% and a total acidity of 7.8g. 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.