I had tasted so few vintages of this "prestige cuvée of prestige cuvées" that it seemed a little beyond my realm of experience to speak about Pol Roger's Sir Winston Churchill at this weekend's Telluride Wine Festival. Fortunately, the great man's wine did all the talking, as the 1998 vintage provided the grande finale of an impressive line-up of Grande Marques in an early morning Champagne tasting. The Winston Churchill stunned the audience with its class and complexity. Bubbles expert Tom Stevenson has called it "...one of the greatest prestige cuvées of modern times..." and the 1998 certainly lived up to that praise. Pol Roger refuses to reveal the composition of the wine, upholding a promise made to the Churchill family when the idea of a wine made in Churchill's honor was first proposed. Since the initial 1975 vintage, little information has emerged about its contents other than its enviable 100% Grand Cru village status.

The house of Pol Roger established itself in 1849 and remains family owned to this day. Located in the city of Epernay, Pol Roger built their impeccable reputation on the Brut non-vintage, better known as "White Foil" as well as their collectible Vintage wines. This weekend's festivities also featured the 1999 rosé into which 15% still Pinot Noir has been blended giving a rosé of pale salmon hue and soft red fruits on the nose. Full-bodied and vinous while remaining fresh, this was my favorite pink wine of the weekend.

Tasting the initial release of Pol Roger's "Pure" was another revelation as this new zero-dosage bottling showed freshness, clean flavors and intense minerality, making for a perfect apéritif during the warm summer weekend.

Likely to be a Pinot Noir dominant, the 1998 Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill showed incredible depth and resonance, with complex biscuity aromas and lasting chalky minerality on the finish. In a weekend of many and great wines, it was by far the most memorable wine of my entire visit to Telluride. As Winston Churchill is famously quoted: "I am easily satisfied with the best".