Pol Roger Brut Réserve Champagne

One of the great nonvintage Champagnes, this is a wine with considerable bottle age, full of toasty flavors. With its gooseberry and apple fruit flavors, it is still fresh, but its great character comes from its supreme elegance.

A beautiful wine, with fine mousse and a pale straw color. Smoky, biscuity aromas are followed by a wonderfully structured, elegant palate, with ripe fruit alongside freshness and a fine, mature richness.

Pol Roger has hit the bull’s eye with this year’s release, which boasts smoky, toasty, spicy aromas and rich, mouthfilling flavors of red berries, citrus and minerals. Creamy and mouthfilling, with a long, luscious finish.

Rich notes of pear pastry, toasted almond, smoke and honey are well-meshed with and balanced by fresh notes of lemon peel, quince and grated ginger, all knit with the finely tuned acidity and creamy mousse. Drink now through 2017.

A mix of floral, apple and berry aromas and flavors highlight this firmly structured, elegant bubbly, which is harmonious and vibrant, with a lingering finish. Drink now through 2013.

The dry, roasted scents grow bold and broad across the palate. Then it finishes with elegance and refinement, with a grip and lasting savor for food. A terrific non-vintage brut, for blini with crème fraîche and caviar.

A medium-weight bubbly, with good richness as a foil for the apple, bread dough and honey notes. A citrus note emerges on the finish. Drink now through 2012.

Medium gold color, with a lively, energetic mousse. Toasty, leesy and loaded with orchard fruits on the nose, which also shows a waxy lanolin note reminiscent of Vouvray. Full and rich in the mouth, with flavors of buttered toast and ripe apple that are nicely supported by solid, harmonious acidity. Broad through the finish and long, with a late note of sweet pear.

Bright yellow gold color. Medium-bodied. Highly extracted. Bitter lemon, minerals, smoke. Rich, well-structured wine with bitter lemon flavors through a long, assertive finish. This has an impressive presence on the palate. Quite tight and austere.

This has mouthwatering flavors of white melon and daikon. It’s a bit reduced at first, with racy acidity for sashimi.

Bright white chalk and yellow fruit scents contrast darker tones of root vegetables and earth. This is clean and dry, with minerality that lasts. The acidity makes it a refreshing match for tempura.

The NV Brut Extra Cuvée de Réserve is a pleasing mid-weight effort. The wine shows attractive floral aromas and focused fruit, with excellent poise and balance. The Brut Extra Cuvée de Réserve is equal parts Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier. Anticipated maturity: 2008–2010.

Apple and toffee on the nose; hints of older juice. Frothy and juicy but on the lean side, with a suggestion of sour apple. Shows a faint dry edge of apple skin and some underlying minerality. Boasts sound acidity and a firm finish, but does not seem up to past releases of this non-vintage brut.

Dusty and smoky on the nose, with hints of apple and cinnamon. Quite a yeasty wine, with plenty of spice and herbs accenting standard Champagne flavors. The finish is light and easy, with just enough sweetness to add some charm. Chunky, full and expansive, but also a bit overly toasted and heavy.

A finely balanced, very complete non-vintage Brut, this is full-textured, firm and fresh. The aroma hints at floral tones, reminiscent of apple blossoms.

Composed of equal portions of Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay from at least two vintages, often three or four. For added complexity 30 to 35 vineyard origins are selected to which 25–30% older reserve wine is added. Disgorges when the youngest component has aged 3 years.