2008 Pol Roger Sir Winston Churchill Is Finally Back

Statesman, Champagne House, Racehorse, And Prestige Cuvée

With more than 170 years in family hands, Pol Roger stands as one of the most unique houses in Champagne. As part of the "Les Grandes Marques" association^* and with ties to British statesman Sir Winston Churchill, the prestige is high and the history rich.

The stories of wartime Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill are many and colourful, but the man had taste - that fact is undeniable. This taste, and the play of chance, brought Churchill and the Pol Roger family together in 1944 during the reopening of the British Embassy in Paris in 1944. The ties between the two families grew strong. Pol Roger was Churchill's favourite Champagne, and he even named his favourite racehorse Pol Roger.

The affection was mutual. Among other things, Pol Roger paid for much of the replanting of fallen trees at Churchill's country house after the great storm of 1987. But the biggest manifestation came in 1984, when Pol Roger released their first prestige cuvée: 1975 Sir Winston Churchill.

Today, Pol Roger has around 90 hectares of outstanding Grand Cru vineyards and stands undeniably as one of the most exclusive and prestigious houses in the region.

A rare opportunity has arisen to invest in the 2008 vintage of the prestigious Sir Winston Churchill cuvée.

*An association of the 24 most prominent Champagne producers

Sublime NV Champagne Provides Extraordinarily Exclusive Prestige Cuvée

Exclusive is not just a flattering superlative to describe the character of Pol Roger Sir Winston Churchill. There is more to it than that. Pol Roger reportedly produces around 1.8 million bottles of Champagne a year. According to Wine Advocate, only about 20 % of any given vintage goes to vintage Champagne, as the house's "white foil" NV Champagnes are heavily favoured - NV Champagnes, incidentally, that are highly regarded, exceptionally stable in quality and with good cellaring potential.

But with this in mind, it necessarily means that only about 360,000 bottles of vintage Champagne are produced annually at Pol Roger, which are divided between a Brut, a blanc de blancs, a rosé and Winston Churchill. How the distribution between these is, only Pol Roger itself knows, but it is unthinkable that Sir Winston Churchill is the largest part - rather the other way round.

So, we are dealing here with a very exclusive prestige cuvée from one of the greatest houses in Champagne.

Wine Advocate: The Best Winston Churchill Ever

In broad perspective, the 2008 vintage is a better Sir Winston Churchill, with an average score across Richard Juhlin, Wine Advocate and Vinous of 95 points. The average for vintages from this millennium is 94.3 while the best ever scores 96.5 points on average, though without a score from Vinous.

What is particularly interesting here, however, is the Wine Advocate's enthusiasm: with 97+ points, this is the best score a Winston Churchill has ever received from here. It is also worth noting that Wine Advocate has tasted the 2008 vintage three times and given three different scores: 96 points in 2018, 97 in 2019 and 97+ in 2023.

2008 Sir Winston Churchill is therefore developing impressively and comes with the attractive 2008 predicate, which has long since reached legendary status in the history of Champagne vintages.

2008 Sir Winston Churchill: RJ: 93 WA: 97+ VI: 95+

If Only You Had Invested Back Then...

In December 2018, we welcomed the 2008 Sir Winston Churchill for the first time. The 2008 hype had a firm grip on the wine world and it came out at a record high price of € 165^*. Today, the price is € 280 which, at least at RareWine Invest, is an all-time-high - just like back then in 2018.

Those who invested despite the price back then can today enjoy a return of 69.7 %. The exciting thing is that, according to Wine Advocate, the 2008 vintage has only just entered its optimal drinking window, which is estimated to last until 2045.

See the investment tip from back then here (unfortunately only available in Danish)

*Price per bottle ex. Duty, tax and VAT, in whole boxes and perfect condition

Unrealised Potential In Exclusive Prestige Cuvée?

Looking at the broader picture, Sir Winston Churchill has not been a dull investment either. In fact, the last 10 vintages that have been on the market for at least five years have averaged an annual return of 11.1 % over the last five years.

But if we step back from this, there seems to be unrealised potential when compared to some of the prominent wines from the same prestige class:

*Average returns across the last 10 vintages of the respective wines that have been on the market for at least five years. Data from Liv-ex.

It is worth noting here that both Dom Pérignon and Cristal generally score higher than Sir Winston Churchill. Yet there seems to be untapped potential - because while Dom Pérignon and Cristal are superbrands, Pol Roger, and in particular Sir Winston Churchill, are far from being secondary brands. Add to this the fact that Dom Pérignon is produced in millions of copies in each release, while it is estimated that around 400,000 bottles of Cristal are produced per vintage.

Using an estimated production based on the reasoning described above, Pol Roger produces less than 400,000 bottles of vintage Champagne per vintage, divided between four different wines.

If there is no potential in this exclusivity, the market is broken.

RareWine Invest's Opinion

In the Champagne category of the fine wine world, there are pop brands and there are brands for connoisseurs. There is good Champagne, and then there is top Champagne. There are the big-name productions, and then there are the exclusive productions. Pol Roger's Sir Winston Churchill belongs to the latter in all three categories.

Statesman Sir Winston Churchill was on to something with his fondness for Pol Roger and the house has undoubtedly gone to great lengths to honour Churchill's name. Today we can enjoy the result of these endeavours with an exclusive prestige cuvée of formidable quality and with a fabulous history.

Sir Winston Churchill has guaranteed great returns, while the 2008 vintage has rewarded investors even before its entry into its drinking window. If you want to join this exclusive 2008 case, now is the time. When and if the opportunity will present itself again is questionable.