June 1, 2015

Finest Hour 107, Summer 2000

Page 28

By Richard M. Langworth

Pol Roger, by Cynthia Parzych and John Turner, with special contributions by Michael Edwards and Bill Gunn. New York: Cynthia Parzych Publishing, 1999, 168 pages illustrated in color and b&w, published at $42. Member price $34

Winston Churchill coined a memorable line when he checked into The Plaza Hotel in New York City in the 1930s and the manager rang his room to see if he required anything special. The story goes that Churchill himself took the call and, pretending to be his valet, replied: “Mr. Churchill is a man of simple tastes; he is quite easily satisfied with the best of everything.”

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Cynthia Parzych and John Turner were given free rein in the extensive Pol Roger archives to produce a history of the Champagne of royalty, heads of state, politicians and connoisseurs. Among the many interesting Churchillian nuggets which permeate and enliven this book, we learned that Churchill was a much earlier enthusiast than we realized. It is well known that he was introduced to Madame Odette Pol-Roger by British Ambassador Alfred Duff Cooper after the war and specified a lifetime supply of his favorite vintages. In fact he had become a customer in 1908—the same year he was appointed President of the Board of Trade—and the book reproduces his order for a case of the 1895 vintage, which cost him the princely sum of £4/16/0 or about $24. Yet his friendship with Mme. Odette was renowned. Churchill named one of his race horses “Pol Roger” and pronounced Odette’s home at 44 avenue de Champagne “the world’s most drinkable address.” Though he never visited Churchill wanted to. “Invite me during the vintage,” he wrote, “and I’ll press the grapes with my bare feet.”

The book offers a complete history of the Pol-Roger family and their wines, not ignoring the many crises which interrupted the usual prosperity and good supply of the product: the phylloxera epidemic in the early 1900s, the effect of World War I and American Prohibition, the German occupation in World War II and the occasional setbacks since. Not omitted is the important role the Pol-Roger family played in sustaining Epernay’s citizens during the occupation, distributing money, food, firewood and medical care to locals and even, when they could, to prisoners-of-war and forced laborers. Pol Roger also provided financial support and hiding places to the local Resistance, and took measures to protect their best reserves. With German permission, the company once procured large quantities of cement—which it used to wall up and seal off their best vintages from the enemy!

The book reveals another form of silent protest, conveyed by Pol Roger’s wartime labels: on bottles bearing overprints restricting them exclusively to the Wehrmacht appears a certain coat of arms, and the English words, BY APPOINTMENT. They did not of course say whose appointment…but these are clearly Britain’s royal arms.

Bill Gunn, M.W. who heads Champagne Pol Roger in the UK and has, together with the Pol-Roger family, contributed generous supplies to Churchill events, wraps up this excellent history with “A Century of Pol Roger Vintages.” This appendix, illustrated with bottle caps, provides tasting notes for all the great vintages from 1893 to 1993. There is also a family tree and a comprehensive index; references to Churchill appear on 13 pages.

Judging by its many plaudits over the years, Pol Roger is the best Champagne in the world—so Sir Winston’s preference is scarcely surprising. Parzych and Turner capture the essence of the wine, and the family that produces it, in an elegant book which is best savored with a glass of the top of the line, the Winston Churchill cuvee. If that seems extravagant, the non-vintage White Foil will do nicely. As to cuisine, anything will do. A glass of PR goes fine with a ham sandwich.