Wine luminaries out in force as Pol Roger UK celebrates 21 years

Last week the good and the great gathered to celebrate the 21st anniversary of the founding of Pol Roger UK at Vintners' Hall.

‘Polite Company’ by Heath featured on the front of the 5-course menu

In a scene reminiscent of the drawing room at Downton Abbey, I caught up with wine luminaries, Hugh Johnson, Michael Broadbent, David Peppercorn, Serena Sutcliffe, Jancis Robinson, James Lawther, Simon Berry and Decanter’s own Steven Spurrier who was celebrating his 70th birthday.

Pol Roger’s Patrice Noyelle, Hubert de Billy and Christian Pol Roger along with Pol Roger’s UK Managing Director Nick James welcomed the guests, a mixture of loyal friends from the trade and a select group of wine writers. It was a wonderfully British affair.

Patrice Noyelle, chief executive of Pol Roger, talked with pride of how the champagne had been chosen for the Royal Wedding. I later learnt from original team member Elizabeth Vaughan that the cases had to delivered wrapped in black plastic to ensure confidentiality.

The wines served at dinner were from a selection the agency represented, including several 1990s, the year the company was founded.

One of the most remarkable of the evening was the Antiguas Reservas Cabernet Sauvignon 1990 Cousino Macul which was deliciously fresh and elegant, a great reminder to not just drink Chilean cabernet young.

Other highlights included Beaune Clos du Mouches 1990, Domaine Joseph Drouhin, en jeroboam, as well as Pol Roger, Blanc de Blancs 2000 and Pol Roger, Cuvee Winston Churchill 1999 en magnum.

As Lady Soames, Sir Winston Churchill’s daughter looked down from the head table, I couldn’t help think that Pol Roger is a very British champagne.

Written by Sarah Kemp