Winemaker Notes
On the palate, the attack bursts forth, and matures into a sensual fullness that winds around itself, like a tendril of foliage. Notes of aniseed and dried ginger linger on the skin of fruit (pear and mango), more textured than ripe. The finish gradually unfurls and then settles, smooth, mellow, all-encompassing.
An indefinable je ne sais quoi, never upsetting the integrity of the wine, has worked its charm
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This is a classic Dom Perignon vintage. It's big and fruity initially, a mouthful of ripeness. Then the texture and structure of this dense wine come through. It's as much wine as Champagne, rich, the apple and fresh pear flavors vying with yeasty and a tense crispness. Worth aging, it will be even better in 3-4 years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2000 Brut Dom Perignon is a gorgeous, seductive wine that floats on the palate with remarkable grace. Toasty aromas meld into freshly cut flowers, apricots and pears, with sweet notes of mint and licorice that linger on the long finish. This perfumed, inviting Dom Perignon is elegance personified, and in this vintage the wine fully merits its lofty reputation. According to winemaker Vincent Chaperone there is only one disgorgement date for the first release of Dom Perignon, and the 2000 was disgorged over a period of weeks in March and April, 2007, 2007. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2018.
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Wine & Spirits
Playing off the ripe 2000 vintage, this bottling of Dom Pérignon has intriguing layers of fruit complexity, from mature golden apple to lemon and greener tones of lima and wax beans. The flavors are clean and lasting, transformed into the glistening minerality of limestone. Firm and harmonious, this should develop for a decade or longer.
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Connoisseurs' Guide
Very few brand names say more about the good life than Dom Perignon, the luxury name from the Moet et Chandon house in Epernay. It is the widest selling tete de cuvee Champagne in the world, and for good reason. It never disappoints. Here, in its latest version, it offers the classic DP blend of sweet citrus, chalk, light toast, insistent streams of small bubbles and a long, crisp, bright flavor profile and finish. And as good as it is now, it will be better in five years.
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Wine Spectator
Starts out round and plush, then the structure takes over. Light peach and berry flavors prevail as this plays out on the lingering finish. Give it a little time to integrate, but this should develop well. Best from 2009 through 2024
Dom Pérignon: an absolute commitment to Vintage
Dom Pérignon's commitment to vintage is absolute. Each Dom Pérignon is a true act of creation, made from only the best grapes. The champagne's intensity is based in precision, so inviting, so mysterious. Each Vintage has three Plénitudes, and embodies the total faith in the creation that is constantly renewed by Chef de Cave Vincent Chaperon. Coupled with a bold sense of playfulness, Dom Pérignon inspires the greatest creators in the world.Made only from the best grapes grown in one single year, each Dom Perignon's Vintage represents a harmonic balance between the nature of the year and the signature of Dom Pérignon. After no fewer than 8 years of elaboration, each vintage emerges complete, seamless and tactile. Dom Pérignon Champagne is made through an assemblage of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, created by using only the best grapes harvested from the 17 Grands Crus in Champagne and the Premier Cru of Hautvillers.
Representing the topmost expression of a Champagne house, a vintage Champagne is one made from the produce of a single, superior harvest year. Vintage Champagnes account for a mere 5% of total Champagne production and are produced about three times in a decade. Champagne is typically made as a blend of multiple years in order to preserve the house style; these will have non-vintage, or simply, NV on the label. The term, "vintage," as it applies to all wine, simply means a single harvest year.
Associated with luxury, celebration, and romance, the region, Champagne, is home to the world’s most prized sparkling wine. In order to bear the label, ‘Champagne’, a sparkling wine must originate from this northeastern region of France—called Champagne—and adhere to strict quality standards. Made up of the three towns Reims, Épernay, and Aÿ, it was here that the traditional method of sparkling wine production was both invented and perfected, birthing a winemaking technique as well as a flavor profile that is now emulated worldwide.
Well-drained, limestone and chalky soil defines much of the region, which lend a mineral component to its wines. Champagne’s cold, continental climate promotes ample acidity in its grapes but weather differences from year to year can create significant variation between vintages. While vintage Champagnes are produced in exceptional years, non-vintage cuvées are produced annually from a blend of several years in order to produce Champagnes that maintain a consistent house style.
With nearly negligible exceptions, . These can be blended together or bottled as individual varietal Champagnes, depending on the final style of wine desired. Chardonnay, the only white variety, contributes freshness, elegance, lively acidity and notes of citrus, orchard fruit and white flowers. Pinot Noir and its relative Pinot Meunier, provide the backbone to many blends, adding structure, body and supple red fruit flavors. Wines with a large proportion of Pinot Meunier will be ready to drink earlier, while Pinot Noir contributes to longevity. Whether it is white or rosé, most Champagne is made from a blend of red and white grapes—and uniquely, rosé is often produce by blending together red and white wine. A Champagne made exclusively from Chardonnay will be labeled as ‘blanc de blancs,’ while ones comprised of only red grapes are called ‘blanc de noirs.’