2002 Champagne Pol Roger, Sir Winston Churchill, Brut

The 2002 Brut Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill is wonderfully open, expressive and resonant. The richness of the vintage comes through nicely, yet the more overt elements are very nicely balanced by a good deal of freshness. Baked apple, pastry, candied lemon, dried flowers, and warm, toasty notes shape the generous, resonant finish. With time in the glass, the 2002 takes on a striking, vinous character. Readers might want to consider opening the 2002 a few hours before, as it really blossoms with air.

Drink 2016 - 2032

Fabulous aromas of dried apple, cream, mango and ginger follow through to a full, dense palate, but it's very, very fine. The bead is so, so fine. The texture is like silk—truly superb quality. I love the contrast between richness and freshness. It builds slowly on the palate and finishes so long and rich. This was ten years on the lees. Mostly pinot noir. It's so superlative to drink. This follows 2000, 1999, 1996 and 1995.

Light yellow-gold. Deeply pitched aromas of poached pear, fresh fig, orange custard and honey, with smoky mineral and buttered toast nuances adding complexity. Stains the palate with ripe citrus and orchard fruit flavours that are given spine and focus by juicy acidity. Closes taut, sappy and extremely long, with an echo of toastiness and wonderful clarity. All Grand Cru fruit.

For Hubert de Billy, this is the best vintage of the 21st Century.

After tasting six younger vintages in magnum, this 75-cl bottle leaps forward in maturity – both in colour and in fruit character. There's a slight bruising to the apple fruit, but only in the most charming and succulent way – that sweet smell of decay, like leaf litter and undergrowth. It is still going absolutely strong, but it is certainly entering the mature development phase with more tertiary than primary flavours.

Drink 2012 - 2042

More about structural fascination than aromatic pleasure. With its high acidity and simultaneously rich and impressive depth, this is reminiscent of the heroic 1996, and is equipped to develop far into the future.

Drink 2020 - 2040

The 2002 Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill is the stunning 2008's closest challenger in the decade, bursting with aromas of confit citrus, stone fruits, mandarin, sweet dried fruits, smoke and iodine. Full-bodied, layered and vinous, it's deep and multidimensional, with broad shoulders, terrific concentration and a long, resonant finish. In style, this shares all of 2012's breadth and flesh but brings more structure and tension to the equation. Still youthful today, the 2002 will drink well from a cold cellar for the next two decades.

One of Champagne's finest houses, Pol Roger, produces among the most consistent Grandes Marques ranges. The style is full-bodied and elegantly fleshy, dominated by Pinot Noir. Only some 20% of any given year will be vintaged, as the Maison privileges its NV Brut Réserve—and indeed, while many non-vintage Bruts fluctuate in quality, Pol Roger's "white foil" bottling is both remarkably reliable and long-lived—which ranks as one of the region's best values. Today, the house ferments all its base wines in stainless steel at low temperature, followed by manual riddling.

Drink 2020 - 2040