Dom Perignon 2006

£182.00

£184.00

Per Bottle
£186.00

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Description & Technical Information

Dom Pérignon is only available as a vintage champagne and is only produced in exceptional years. Each vintage is a creation, singular and unique, that expresses both the character of the year, and the character of Dom Pérignon. After at least eight years of elaboration in the cellars, the wine embodies the perfect balance of Dom Pérignon, the Plénitude of harmony. The 2006 vintage marks the fifth consecutive release of this famous prestige cuvée, the first such occurrence in Dom Pérignon's history.

Weather: With similar weather characteristics as the now-legendary 2002, the 2006 vintage was overall very hot and dry. Vines grew in fits and starts with a heatwave during July succeeded by a cool and humid August. The ultimate factor was the summery September weather, which assisted the grapes in developing much more maturity than usual. As a result, the harvest was the longest on record: four weeks beginning on 11th September.

Technical Information:
Vineyards: 100% Grand & Premier Cru
Grape Varieties: 60% Chardonnay, 40% Pinot Noir
Ageing: 8 years on the lees
Dosage: 5 g/l
Drink: Now to 2030

Tasting Note: Initial impressions on the nose are floral and ripe tropical fruits that open to more candied fruit and toasted notes. On the palate an increasing level of creaminess and complexity develop with time in the glass. This is a champagne showing the true hallmarks of a superb vintage which, given time, will position itself as one of the vintages of the decade.

Champagne Dom Perignon Overview

Expert Reviews

18.5/20

Jancis Robinson MW

“Richard Geoffroy lost sleep this year that was characterised by rain then sun. A terrible August was rescued by a fine September – a little like 2008. Worryingly high pH. The vintage could easily have been written off. Released after nine years on the lees. M Geoffroy says it needed at least six or seven years ‘and the wine was nowhere before that’.
Some evolution on the nose with real interest. Smells so much older than either the 2008 or the 2009. Flirtatious. Clean and fresh. Very zesty in flavour but with a lovely creamy texture.
Drink 2016-2024”

96/100

Antonio Galloni MW

“Powerful, dense and tightly wound, the 2006 Dom Pérignon is fabulous today. To be sure, the 2006 is a broad, virile Champagne, but I find it compelling because of its phenolic depth and overall intensity. Chef de Caves Richard Geoffroy adds that August was quite cold and wet, and that ripening only happened at the very end of the growing season. Although numbers alone can never explain a wine, I find it interesting that the 2006 has more phenolics than the 2003. Readers will have to be patient, as the 2006 is easily the most reticent Dom Pérignon in the years spanning 2002 and 2009. I am confident the 2006 will have its day, but in its youth, it is not especially charming or easy to drink.”

96/100

Antonio Galloni MW

“One of the real surprises in this tasting, the 2006 Dom Pérignon comes across as very tightly wound and intense, which is probably a very good thing for its potential longevity. The sensation of tannins is quite present today. Ripe and intense but also held in check by its tannic heft, the 2006 is in no mood to show all of its cards. Stylistically, the 2006 is similar to the 2003 in its phenolic intensity, but more finessed. Readers should be in no rush with the 2006, a Champagne that has closed down quite a bit since it was first released.”

94 → 96/100

Essi Avellan MW

“Chef de Cave Richard Geoffroy is at ease, even exited about Champagne’s warming vintages for Dom Pérignon. He is not shy to demonstrate a broader scope of vintage expressions being increasingly comfortable at extremes. The 2006 is a bold and ripe Dom Pérignon full of exuberant tropical fruit and vanilla notes, topped up with the hallmark fragrant, gunpowder and toast character. It has a broad, rich mid-palate and a truly dry, salient finish with a phenolic touch of a ripe year. The fruitiness is polished and bright and there is fine, balanced freshness to it. This vintage is built to last, it is still tight but packed with fleshy fruitiness. 94 points today with potential for 96 points.”

92/100

Michael Edwards

“Stylish glittering pale gold with tiny flowing bubbles. Chardonnay scents lead into citrus fruits with floral lilac and snow drop aromas. The Pinot Noir is starting to stir amongst the ripe pear and peach flavours that are healthily tight. A fine acidity in a year lacking some. As always you need to be patient with Dom Pérignon, the supreme reductive style. This is still a baby with much potential.
”

18.5/20

Jancis Robinson MW

“Back label says this is the ‘First Plénitude’ of Dom P, having been aged for nine years. 55% Pinot Noir, 45% Chardonnay.
Bright pale slightly greenish straw. Rich, very tightly laced nose with many layers and great density – on the nose. Real excitement here with some tension. Some unashamed richness underneath but excellent freshness too. Something quite electric about this. Almost unfurled. You could certainly drink this with pleasure already but there is clearly lots tucked away here for future development. Impressively long and reverberant. 12%”

96/100

Robert Parker

“The 2006 Dom Pérignon comes from a very rich vintage with an early ripeness that brought a lot of aromatic maturity. The white-golden prestige cuvée contains a bit more Chardonnay than Pinot Noir and opens with a deep and seductive, pretty accessible nose with intense yet fresh fruit aromas of pineapples, with peaches and tangerines. Lively and elegant on the palate, this is a full-bodied, unusually aromatic and fruity DP with a long and tension-filled expression.”

93/100

Andrew Jefford

“A genuinely outstanding effort with the sometimes over-rich 2006 vintage, the light-gold DP is classy, fresh, refined and floral, with an intense, vivacious, darting palate with a weave of green lime and sea-shore pungency through it. Not many 06s can truly be said to be ‘chalky’ but this, weighed and filtered on the tongue, does indeed suggest the powdery dust which falls from the blackboard as you wipe it. Perhaps pure-steel handling helps the drinker perceive this? ”

97/100

Antonio Galloni

“The 2006 Dom Pérignon is a beautifully balanced, harmonious Dom Pérignon that strikes an incredibly appealing stylistic middle ground. Rich, voluptuous and creamy, the 2006 shows off fabulous intensity in a style that brings together the ripeness of 2002 with the greater sense of verve and overall freshness that is such a signature of the 2004. Bass notes and a feeling of phenolic grip on the finish recall the 2003, as the Pinot Noir is particularly expressive today. After an irregular summer that saw elevated temperatures in July followed by cooler, damp conditions in August, more favorable weather returned in September, pushing maturation ahead and leading to a long, protracted harvest. The 2006 falls into the family of riper, more voluptuous Dom Pérignons, but without veering into the level of opulence seen in vintages such as 2002.”

18+/20

Jancis Robinson MW

“Tasted blind. Pale greenish gold. Intense youthful nose. Dense and tense. Youthful with some sweetish creaminess. Slightly chewy on the end. 2006? ”

96/100

Assi Evellan MW

“The 2006 is a bold and ripe Dom Pérignon full of exuberant tropical fruit and vanilla notes, topped up with the hallmark fragrant, gunpowder and toast character. It has a broad, rich mid-palate and a truly dry, salient finish with a phenolic touch of a ripe year. The fruitiness is polished and bright and there is fine, balanced freshness to it. This vintage is built to last, it is still tight but packed with fleshy fruitiness. ”

See All Reviews

News Articles

Mr Dom Pérignon's Life in Bottles

December 13, 2018
Read Jancis Robinson's review of our recent Dom Pérignon Retrospective tasting - including scores, tasting notes and a league table of all 23 champagnes tasted, spanning 1990-2009. Full article on JancisRobinson.com.
Tasting Review | Dom Pérignon Vertical: A Richard Geoffroy Retrospective

December 4, 2018
Our once-in-a-lifetime champagne tasting celebrating Richard Geoffroy's magnificent achievements over his 28-year career was a roaring success, with guests sampling 23 champagnes from 1990-2009. Read the review from Simon Field MW and browse photos from the event here.
Moët & Chandon / Dom Pérignon: Vintage vs Prestige Cuvée 2009-1995

September 29, 2017
A comparison of eight vintages of Moët & Chandon and Dom Pérignon, from newly released 2009 to very old 1995 with their respective winemakers, Benoît Gouez and Richard Geoffroy.
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