Every Friday The no1 Champagne expert in the world will taste new & old Champagne s to give You a tip or two for the weekend. This week Richard Juhlin tasted new releases from Dom Pérignon. [read the full champagne story]
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
2018 Dom Pérignon
95(91)p
46pn 54ch
TASTING NOTE by Champagne Club by Richard Juhlin ‘Vincent Chaperon’s first own vintage consists of Chouilly, Cramant, Verzenay, Le Mesnil, Avize, Mareuil-sur-Ay, Ay, Sillery, Oger, Bouzy, Hautvillers, Verzy and Dizy with 6-gram dosage. Verzenay and Aÿ dominate the pinot section while Chouilly is heavily leading for chardonnay as so often in Dom Pérignon. If Richard Geoffroy’s last vintage 2017 reminds us of the man Richard Geoffroy, then 2018 is a reflection of Vincent Chaperon’s personality. Not as outgoing but a little more thoughtful and analytical where the small gestures constitute the greatness. The aroma is still closed and weak and at the same time very beautifully composed in its own shy way. Here there are cool aromas of snow, spring flowers, steel and white peaches together with an incipient classic roasting that will be in full bloom in 10 years or so. It is in the taste that the wine shows its true class and greatness. The texture is so seamless that it almost borders on one-dimensional with its harmonious transitions between the different elements. The caress is cool but genuine. The notes are cold and beautiful like a snow queen. The richness in the midrange and the acidic and sea-saturated length of the aftertaste are truly impressive.’
‘The wine will of course be even better as P2, but if you buy them in this version, do not drink them in the pub or nightclub but wait at least five more years and sit down and listen devoutly to your favorite music and let all the senses participate and enrich each other.’
Richard Juhlin
2017 Dom Pérignon
95(93)p
39pn 61ch
TASTING NOTE by Champagne Club by Richard Juhlin ‘2017 was a wet and hard-working year with few good champagnes. Richard Geoffroy’s last vintage was nothing short of a success and the recipe was above all a minimal edition of concentrated wines in the cuvée in a similar way to the now legendary 2003. Bouzy, which ripens early, coped well with the rain and became the dominant village for pinot noir. 61% chardonnay is a record amount, with the lion’s share coming from Le Coteau de Saran and Le Revers de Plume Coq in Chouilly. The champagne is bold and charming with high concentration and great maturity. The aroma is filled with roasted and slightly smoky elements, where gunpowder smoke, coffee and pine nuts are most evident. The fruit is, as usual, very multifaceted with stone fruits in the driver’s seat backed by forest mushrooms and nougat.’
‘The texture is elaborately built up in a masterful way as usual and the palate is almost sensual.’
Richard Juhlin
2005 Dom Pérignon P2
97(97)p
52pn 48ch
TASTING NOTE by Champagne Club by Richard Juhlin ‘2005 Dom Pérignon has always been one of the most boring vintages of this famous wine. The richness and power have never been wrong, but the wine has always been a bit flat and heavy on the back in comparison to other vintages. I know that even the weakest vintages of Dom Pérignon benefit immensely from the extra time in contact with the lees that the P2 concept provides. Still, I almost got a shocking experience when I put my nose in the glass. Hallelujah! An incredibly strong and shocking scent experience that in itself was worth 97 points! The intensity and complexity of the scent symphony was astonishing. Here you are met with a cannonade of floral notes with acacia as the leader, the whole coffee roastery, the petroleum notes, the mushroom cream and the small orange-flavoured madeleines that Richard Geoffroy always found in his P2s.’
‘The taste is as full as before, but miraculously, it is as if a few drops of lime and mandarin zest have been sprinkled in, giving the wine a fresher and younger appearance than in the P1 version. Imagine how wonderful it is with ugly ducklings turning into beautiful swans.’
Richard Juhlin
2010 Dom Pérignon Rosé
96(95)p
56pn 44ch
TASTING NOTE by Champagne Club by Richard Juhlin ‘This time the wine has been aged for 15 years in the cellar and has acquired a sensual maturity that seduces you immediately upon encountering this brilliant beauty. I was very excited to see how they managed to combine the charming exoticism of the vintage with the stated strategy of squeezing in as much Burgundian pinot noir fruit as possible. The proportion of red wine has dropped to 11% compared to 13% in 2009 and the proportion of pinot noir is lower than it has been for a long time, so I would say that they have chosen to dance along in the exotic tropical dance that the charming vintage offers. The wine is lighter and brighter than usual with a wonderfully obvious intensity. Delicate, refined, soft and supple. Despite the amount of fruit that ranges from orange to mango, there is a darker depth and a tension that is held together by the caressing silky texture. Impressively full-bodied and juicy with a long and refreshing finish where the same roasted coffee beans that spice up the lovely aroma come back with a vengeance. My fellow tasters guessed Alexandra Rosé and Dom Ruinart Rosé, respectively, which I can understand for this lighter vintage.’
‘Dom Pérignon Rosé has always been something quite extraordinary and the volume produced is a fraction of its white namesake.’
Richard Juhlin
