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 the new vintages of Dom Pérignon & P2. [read the full champagne story]
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
2015 Dom Pérignon ‘Cuvée Dom Pérignon’
PN 51 PM 0 CH 49
95(93)p
TASTING NOTE ‘From the dry and hot year 2015, of course, the genius Vincent Chaperon manages to escape the vintage’s excess clarity and shortcomings. With the world’s largest quality vineyards in the mosaic, he and his team carefully balance and carefully consider every detail. Here, it is important to create balance and harmony with a higher percentage of mineral-driven and cooler locations as a cornerstone. The natural sweetness of the grapes also required a slightly lower dosage to preserve the clarity and evidence of each instrument’s contribution to the well-tuned symphonic experience created. They should also be commended for not being tempted by the possibility of making a fully mature and generously matured wine from scratch, even though nightclubs and party-hungry consumers would surely have praised the wine even more if that was the case.
No, here there is a nice restraint and mouth-watering mineral saltiness in the background throughout the taste journey. The aromas are intense with exquisite balance between roasted coffee and chocolate notes intertwined with lime and jasmine and both yellow and green showy juicy fruits. The natural fruit is impressive in its strength and purity, but I am probably most impressed by how clear the Dom Pérignon character is and how excited I am when I think about how nicely this vintage will also develop both in private cellars and in Épernay for to one day be presented in its most beautiful form under the P2 and P3 label.’
‘At the moment, I just have to recommend that you serve the champagne with a classic blini with sour cream and a spoonful of ultra black caviar. The saltiness of the caviar highlights the richness of detail in the champagne in an outstanding way.’
RICHARD JUHLIN
2006 Dom Pérignon ‘P2’
PN 55 PM 0 CH 45
96(95)p
TASTING NOTE ‘I have had the privilege of tasting this wine a couple of times and in direct connection also tasted the usual normally disgorged version of the same wine. Currently, they hold roughly the same class as P2 is a bit tighter and less developed, but at the same time even more complex and with a higher tail. The dosage is lower (4.5 grams) and the purity greater. The minerality and stringency with a certain tannic bitterness come through nicely in P2 and already now the wine offers a magnificent pleasure. The fruit is of course monumental and ripe as it should be from this round and packed year. My first bottle felt fully mature while my second had that slight resistance that slow autolytic build-up brings. The classic Dom Pérignon spectrum is present with an accent on orange, passion fruit, coffee and pine nuts. Silky mouthfeel and long, luscious, well-balanced finale.’
‘A wine that will last an incredibly long time and is highly recommended.’
RICHARD JUHLIN
