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.

Weather: The 2000 vintage was seen by many as a miraculous year. The vines were hit by heavy rain, storms and hail in the winter, leaving a successful harvest on the brink. However, the vintage was saved by the hottest August and September in fifty years, providing the grapes with much needed sunshine and warmth.

Technical Information:
Vineyards: 100% Grand & Premier Cru
Grape Varieties: 51% Chardonnay, 49% Pinot Noir
Lees Ageing: 7 years
Disgorged: July 2008
Dosage: 6 g/l
Drink: Now to 2030

Tasting Note: On the nose, the first hints of fresh almond immediately open up into preserved lemon and dried fruits, rounded off by darker smokey and toasted qualities. On the palate, it is creamy, energetic and warm, focusing on the fruit, then gradually taking on more profound bass notes. Dom Pérignon 2002 is a magnetic, still-elusive wine that fully reveals the nature of this legendary House.