Appropriate season's greetings from Jim Lancaster Below is a text version of an interesting article in the Daily Telegraph about WSC and his preference for the Imperial pint bottle of Pol Roger champagne.
Champagne? Like Churchill, I'll have a pint, but was he right about the best size of bottle for fizz? Jonathan Ray in the Daily Telegraph 13 December 2008 In a fit of festive largesse, Champagne Pol Roger is generously offering three lucky readers the chance to win a bottle, magnum and jeroboam of vintage champagne from the 1995 vintage and the same from 1996 and 1999. To enter, and for terms and conditions, see http://www.polroger.co.uk/telegraph/ before midnight on Wednesday, December 31. CHAMPAGNE BOTTLE SIZES Bottle = 75cl Magnum = 2 bottles Jeroboam = 4 bottles Rehoboam = 6 bottles Methuselah = 8 bottles Salmanazar = 12 bottles Balthazar = 16 bottles Nebuchadnezzar = 20 bottles (Unfortunately the prize draw for a bottle, magnum or jeroboam is only available to people living in the UK - Jim Lancaster) Historians, scholarly wine-lovers and students of Churchilliana can rest easy at last: a major historical inaccuracy has now been corrected. As is well-documented, Sir Winston Churchill's chosen champagne was Pol Roger and ever since the Churchill Museum opened in 2005, in the Cabinet War Rooms in Whitehall, two bottles of Pol - one from 1928 and one from 1934 - have been exhibited among the great man's effects. These two vintages were his particular favourites. But the eagle-eyed will have noticed that these bottles were the wrong size - Churchill's measure of choice was the imperial pint rather than the regular bottle. Last week, Patrice Noyelle, Pol Roger's director-general, righted this wrong by presenting the museum with two imperial pints from the identical vintages. Although since discontinued, the imperial is roughly equivalent to 50cl and sits neatly between a full bottle (75cl) and a half bottle (37.5cl). "It's a fine detail, I know," says Phil Reed, director of the Churchill Museum. "But as a museum, we only deal in accuracy and we're delighted this minor fault has finally been put right." James Simpson, Pol Roger's UK sales director, is equally pleased. "Churchill was our most devoted customer," he says. "And even though we were probably the only people to notice, it has always irked us that the wrong bottles were on display." What, though, was so special about the imperial pint? Churchill believed it to be the perfect measure: just enough for two people to drink at lunch and for one person to drink at dinner," says Simpson. "He drank one every day, between his whisky and his brandy." Champagne is noted for its many different-sized bottles, ranging from quarter bottles to nebuchadnezzars which hold 20 standard bottles. Clearly, wines stored in such diverse sizes are going to mature at a very different pace owing to the ratio of wine to air. To celebrate Patrice Noyelle's presentation, I twist James Simpson's arm and persuade him to open some bottles, magnums (two bottles) and jeroboams (four bottles) from three recent vintages in order to see exactly how they differ. Because Simpson and I hate to drink alone, we ask Phil Reed and my former boss, Simon Berry [of Berry Bros & Rudd], to join us. "Churchill was right," says Berry. "The imperial pint was the perfect size for fizz. Champagne is all about sharing and it is ideal for two people, giving them two glasses each. A half is too mean and a bottle is too lavish. And for those who like mature champagne, it is ideal too - the wine ages faster in this format than it would in larger sizes. It's ridiculous that the EU now prohibits it." Simpson is less certain as to the merits of smaller bottles. Pol Roger has recently decided to discontinue producing half bottles on the grounds of consistency. Apparently, they became oxidised too readily. Qualitatively, we say the larger the format the better," he says. "A bottle is the best size for regular consumers, giving four people one decent glass each with a top-up. But I favour the magnum, of which we're selling many more than in the past. It's the optimum size for ageing and isn't outrageous for four people to share as an aperitif and as a partner to a first course." After a quick mouthful of non-vintage Pol, we settle down to taste the 1995, 1996 and 1999 vintages in the various different sizes. Churchill would have been brought up on vintage champagne (non-vintage only arrived after the Second World War). And, as Simpson points out, champagne would have tasted different in those pre-war years: Pol Roger, like most champagne houses, was in the habit of adding a splash of brandy to the fizz along with the regular dosage of sugar. No wonder WSC [Winston Spencer Churchill] liked it so much. "In those days, most gentlemen would have drunk champagne with food," explains Simpson. "It only became fashionable as an aperitif in the Fifties, when more chardonnay was used and the blends became lighter. A typical diner would start his evening with sherry then drink fizz with the meal, claret with the savoury and finally port." Pol Roger's traditional vintage blend is 60 per cent pinot noir and 40 per cent chardonnay and I am struck by how different our three vintages are. The 1999 is floral and toasty; the 1995 fruity and ripe but beautifully balanced; and the 1996 full of brioche and fine natural acidity. The sizes do indeed differ, with the bottles ready for drinking and the jeroboams closed and reserved. We agree that the magnums are currently showing best, although the jeroboams probably promise more. It seems then, that size does matter and that big is beautiful. Where, then, does that leave the imperial? "It wasn't lack of demand that killed it, but bureaucracy," says Berry. "It's a drinker-friendly size: you can't put a jeroboam in a fridge. I find it sad that it is now only a museum piece. What on earth would Churchill say?" --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "ChurchillChat" group. 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