Dom Perignon Vintage 2006 (1 x 0.75 l)

Product Information

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. (AG)

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. The 2006 vintage was climatically irregular in the Champagne region and generally warm and dry. However, the cooler evenings in the latter part of the summer has resulted in a wine of richness with underlying elegance and sophistication.In its youth, Dom Pérignon shows incredibly smooth, creamy fruit with perfect balance and weight. As it ages, it takes on wonderfully toasty aromas and a finesse equalled by very few of the other Grandes Marques. Dom Pérignon is only available as a vintage champagne and is only produced in ‘exceptional’ years. 2013 hits a perfect middle ground between the fruit forward 2012 and the minerality of the 2008. of vineyards in Champagne are planted with Chardonnay and it performs best on the Côtes des Blancs and on the chalk slopes south of Epernay. It is relatively simple to grow, although it buds early and thus is susceptible to spring frosts. It produces lighter, fresher wines than those from Burgundy and gives finesse, fruit and elegance to the final blend. It is the sole grape in Blancs de Blancs, which are some of the richest long-lived Champagnes produced. a b Sutcliffe, Serena, "A Celebration of Champagne", p. 130, Mitchell Beazley 1988, ISBN 0-85-533697-8 In 1981, Dom Pérignon was chosen for the wedding of Lady Diana Spencer and Prince Charles. The magnums of Dom Pérignon Vintage 1961 served on that July 29 carried a special insignia created just for the ceremony. [8] Vintages [ edit ]

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. As of September 2022, the current release of Dom Pérignon is from the 2012 vintage and the current release of Dom Pérignon Rosé is from the 2008 vintage. [11] Auction market [ edit ] Based on Grand Cru villages plus one premier cru villages of Hautvillers, a wine of tension, power and long-ageing endurance and has been the vision of talented Chef de Cave, Vincent Chaperon, for over two and a half decades.Plénitudes/". creatingdomperignon.com/. 6 October 2010. Archived from the original on 25 July 2014 . Retrieved 14 September 2012. Chaperon of course noted the “incredible sequence of vintages”. This is the first time in the history of Dom Pérignon Rosé, which started with the 1959 vintage, that five consecutive vintages, i.e. 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 were released. When it comes to wine, France stands alone. No other country can beat it in terms of quality and diversity. And while many of its Region, Bordeaux, Burgundy and Champagne most obviously, produce wine as rare, as sought-after and nearly as expensive as gold, there are just as many obscurities and values to be had from little known appellations throughout the country. To learn everything there is to know about French wine would take a lifetime. To understand and appreciate French wine, one only has to begin tasting them. Dom Pérignon is the prestige cuvée of the Champagne house Möet et Chandon. It is named after the Benedictine Monk who has been widely (and incorrectly) credited with ‘inventing’ Champagne, although his contribution to the development of sparkling wine can not be underestimated.

In his masterclass, chef de cave Richard Geoffroy explained that 2006 was another low acid vintage like '03 and '09, which meant it was quite a challenge to provide the usual DP precision and focus. Yet he clearly delivered, partly because he and his team worked especially hard on the yeast maturation and the way in which the wine developed 'sur lattes' (stored on their sides in the cellar). ‘It took a long time to develop – eight years, in fact. But it has certainly got there now.’ And at 12 years of age, this is really starting to hit its stride, with lovely citrus, apple and nectarine fruit inflected with savory hazelnut, toast and brioche. It has super tension, texture and depth with wonderful length - and a long life ahead. (JS)

Rest of the World

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. (SR)