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| A bottle of 1914 opened for an event hosted by the house earlier in this centenary year |
Pol Roger marks WWI centenary
Pol Roger is supporting World War I centenary commemorations with the auction of a bottle of Champagne from the 1914 vintage
After lying in the house’s Epérnay cellars for the last 100 years,
the bottle is due to be auctioned as part of the Bonhams Fine Wine Sale
in London on 24 October.
Proceeds from the sale, which are expected to reach £3,000-4,000,
will be donated to the Imperial War Museum in order to support the
refurbishment of its First World War Galleries.
Although widely regarded as one of the finest vintages of the 20th
century, the 1914 Champagne harvest was badly hampered by the arrival
of German troops in Epérnay ahead of the battle of the Marne from 5-12
September that year.
With all able-bodied men called up to fight, the harvest was carried
out by women, children and the old or infirm. Maurice Pol Roger famously
observed that the vintage was “harvested to the sound of gunfire but to
be drunk to the sound of trumpets.”
Commenting on this rare lot, Bonhams head of wine Richard Harvey MW
said: “It’s a real pleasure to be selling this wine and for such a good
cause. The 1914 Pol Roger is legendary for its quality and rarity.”
Noting the wine’s “deep yellow colour, with honeyed aromas and a
flavor of orange peel,” he continued: “it’s very rich but still dry,
remarkably fresh and alive for a 100 year old wine.”
As for the wine’s historical context, Harvey noted: “It could not be
more closely associated with the Great War and it is fitting that the
proceeds should go to support the fine new First World War galleries at
the Imperial War Museum.”
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