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 lees ageing in the cellars, the wine enters its first phase of interest, Plenitude 1, showing quite youthful fruit and broad texture from the lees contact. The signature Dom Pérignon aromatic is that "hint smoky" character a result of the reductive winemaking where they go to extreme lengths to keep each step of the winemaking process free of oxygen. With every sip of Dom Perignon you always have that purity of fruit character, depending on the vintage you normally see the Pinot Noir fruit dominate, which are those red fruits like raspberry, peach and dark cherry. The Chardonnay adds a supporting layer of chalky texture and delicious fruit in the yellow spectrum like plum, apple and tropical notes of pineapple.

“I remember we had to battle our natural reflexes as winemakers and admit that part of the harvest – representing a full year of our labours – simply had to be sacrificed in order to save the best parcels, and try to make a Dom Pérignon vintage.” - Vincent Chaperon, Chef de Cave

Weather: The 2010 harvest was marked by a very cold winter with heavy frost patches. Weather improved in the spring and early summer months with cool and consistent temperatures. During August and September storms and humid conditions complicated the ripening process and much of the Pinot Noir being thin skinned largely succumbed to rot. Dom Perignon's vineyards in the Grand Cru village of Verzenay produced some outstanding Pinot Noir, but there weren't many examples of great PN from 2010. By contrast Chardonnay was super high quality, one of the best Chardonnay years within the last ten years.

Technical Information:
Vineyards: Predominantly Grand Cru and Hautvillers (Premier Cru)
Grape Varieties: 46% Pinot Noir | 54% Chardonnay
Lees Ageing: 9 years
Disgorged: Autumn 2020
Dosage: 5 g/l
Alcohol: 12.5%
Drink: Now to 2035+

Tasting Note: 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.