2008
2008 was dominated by grey, overcast skies – an exception in a decade characterized by bold, generous sunshine. Just when the harvest was getting underway, the weather conditions were finally perfect: blue skies and prolonged north-northeasterly winds. The grapes were riper than anyone dared hope, and had truly outstanding balance. The vines were in perfect health.
To the bracing acidity, concision and aromatic purity expected of the 2008 vintage, Dom Pérignon adds depth, density and complexity. The light is warmer and less harsh.
On The Nose
The opening bouquet is complex and luminous, a mingling of white flowers, citrus and stone fruit. A freshness of aniseed and crushed mint. The final aromas offered by the wine are starting to show spicy, woody and roasted notes.
On The Palate
There is complete balance between the nose and the palate. Its slender, minimalist, pure, toned, athletic character is now also expressed with warmth. The fruit is pronounced and clear. The vintage's characteristic acidity is remarkably well integrated. Its persistence is mainly aromatic, grey, smoky and highly promising.
2009
The stretch of excellent weather condition of 2009 was unprecedented, and allowed us to explore new frontiers of grape ripeness in Champagne. The vintage offers a taste of the ripest and richest fruit, grapes in their prime, with the promise of the future wine's freshness and energy. The 2009 vintage brings a prodigious, sunny, bold and generous decade to a close.
On the Nose
Notes of guava and spicy green grapefruit zest combine with stone fruit: white peach and nectarine. The wine opens up, with the whole complemented by woody vanilla and warm, lightly toasted brioche.
On The Palate
The fruit is majestic: ripe, fleshy and profound. Beyond the richness and a certain voluptuousness is a strong impression of consistency that prevails. The wine’s power is remarkably restrained. The various sensations – silky, salty, sappy, bitter and briny – converge and persist.
2010
2010. Winter was rigorous, spring dry and late. After a particularly sunny decade, such freshness was surprising. Summer was hot, but not excessively so. Then, two days of diluvian rain brought this ideal trajectory to a halt. In just a few days, botrytis mold developed on the grapes, mainly on the pinot noir.
This triggered a race against the clock. The grapes were not yet fully mature, but a decision had to be made quickly. Dom Pérignon deployed its full resources to trace a precise map delimiting the maturity and health of each parcel in its vineyards. Every minute counted. The challenge was met, Dom Pérignon declared a vintage quite literally “saved from the waters”: Dom Pérignon Vintage 2010, fruit of intuition and mastery.
On The Nose
The luminous sweetness of tropical fruit – green mango, melon, pineapple – instantly shines. It then cedes to more temperate notes, the tingle of orange zest, the mist of a mandarin orange. The wine breathes, revealing its freshness. The bloom after the rain. A tactile sensation of peony, jasmine and lilac.
On The Palate
The wine immediately imposes its ample presence, full and massive. A sappy sensation dominates as the tactile is rapidly overtaken by the aromatic. The body unfolds: generous, firm and controlled. Then it contracts, letting the wine vibrate with spices and pepper. The energy is sustained to a scintillating, saline finish.
2012
The unpredictable seasons of 2012, their force and generosity shaped an outstanding olfactory landscape imbued with remarkable variety. A year full of paradoxes for winemaking, 2012 gave birth to a great vintage, surmounting multiple challenges.
Combining intensity, contained tautness and extreme contradictions, the Dom Pérignon Vintage 2012 blend reveals a unique structure, resonating to the rhythm of controlled energy, channelled by an acidity and bitterness that burst forth magnificently.
The Nose
The nose is full and varied, mingling flowers with fruit, and the vegetal with the mineral. The bouquet is tactile, subtly enticing us along a trail of powdery white flowers and nectareous apricot, followed by the freshness of rhubarb and mint and the minerality of ash. White pepper.
The Palate
Energy dominates on the palate. After a welcoming opening, the wine quickly becomes vibrant and then literally explodes with a surge of effervescence and tonicity. Focused by acidic and bitter notes, the finish brings a penetrating tautness marked by ginger, tobacco and toasted accents.
