Dom Pérignon, unlike many other champagnes, can only be produced in good harvest years. This is because it is an always-vintage champagne, and the word vintage, in the champagne world, does not refer to age. Rather, it means that only grapes from the same harvest year ar e used, something not possible in weak or mediocre years – least if you have standards as high as this premium champagne house.
For Dom Pérignon, the decision to declare a good vintage year comes down to one person. This is the 97-year-old house’s Chef de Cave. For this particular vintage and during his 28-year tenure, Chef de Cave Richard Geoffroy -- who just departed the house -- declared and oversaw 15 vintages between 1990 and 2009.
His responsibility is daunting to say the least. As the creator, he gets to blend the wine to his taste (Dom Pérignon is always a mix of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay) and take the first sip of each release. But he also needs to make sure that all those years of waiting are worthwhile and the final vintages live up to expectations and deliver their potential.
He also works on an unusual timescale. “What I’m working on now will be released in 10 years,” says Geoffroy during the unveiling of one of his last vintages at the house, the Dom Pérignon Plénitude 2 (P2), one year ago in Beijing.
For champagne aficionados, the 17-year-old wait for a $300+ bottle of Dom Pérignon 2000 Plénitude 2 (P2) vintage champagne is worthwhile.
One Harvest, Three Lives
The Plenitude concept is one that’s specific to Dom Pérignon. It refers to a 3-stage ageing and maturing process that one year’s harvest undergoes to produce 3 different Plénitudes – each meant to highlight a different expression of the same wine.
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