Released in October of last year, Pol Roger's 2008 Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill is showing brilliantly, unfurling in the glass with a complex bouquet of waxy citrus rind, dried white flowers, freshly baked bread, iodine and honeyed yellow apple. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, powerful and vinous, with a deep and multidimensional core, broad structural shoulders and considerable concentration, girdled by tangy acids and displaying a youthfully frothy but incipiently fine mousse. The finish is long and intense. This is a terrific rendition of this reliably superb cuvée and well worth seeking out.

I love the balance between weight and agility in this wine with a dense and compact palate. Yet, there’s brightness and creaminess that melts into the glass. Lots of brioche, pie crust and strawberry tart. Serious balancing act here. Drinkable, but better with a few years of age.

This lovely, elegant version is more about restraint and finesse than power, caressing the palate with a silky mousse and a finely woven range of ripe Asian pear, biscuit and star fruit flavors, accented by elderflower, ground ginger and almond skin notes. Lightly mouthwatering, expanding on the chalk-tinged finish. Drink now through 2033. AN

The 2008 Brut Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill is one of the most reticent and tightly wound wines of the vintage. To be sure, all the 2008s offer tremendous brightness and punch, but most are also a bit more approachable in the early going. The 2008 Churchill is totally closed in on itself at present. Vibrant floral, citrus and saline notes add an attractive upper register to a core of persistent Pinot-inflected fruit as the wine gradually opens up. The 2008 is a total knock-out, but I wouldn't dream of touching a bottle anytime soon.