Declaring a new vintage carries its own paradox: the wine is suddenly revealed to the public after years of patience and care dedicated to its creation. The transition from the quietude and darkness of our cellars to the excitement and brightness of the reception is a defining moment. Hidden from sight since its inception, the Dom Pérignon Rosé Vintage 2002 took center stage at the declaration party held in Istanbul, Turkey on 23 January 2013.

As my loyal readers will surely remember, this is not the first time the worlds of Asia and Dom Pérignon Rosé intersect. The choice of the Sublime Porte, itself a city rich in paradoxes, came naturally as it represents the perfect connection from Europe to Asia: as Istanbul is straddling two continents, so is Dom Pérignon Rosé, with its roots in the heart of Champagne and its aromas reminiscent of the Orient.

I imagined a progression of happenings for our guests throughout the day: a discovery of the wine itself, first alone then under my guidance; a visit to the Spice Market, to explore and feel the similarities; and a seminar held by Thierry Wasser, the nose of Guerlain. His first sip of Dom Pérignon Rosé 2002 reminded him of one of his creations (Rose nacrée du désert), whose components each evoke a different facet of the wine: Lumière d’Or (solar opulence), Clair Obscur (minerality, freshness and lightness) and Rose Orientale (power and sensual glow). The active participation of the attendees was required for this playful event, as their mission was to recreate the fragrance by combining these three elements.

The day reached its climax, combining all these experiences, during the declaration party held at Esma Sultan, a palace built in 1875 and named after the daughter of the 32nd Sultan of Ottoman.

Whirling dervishes danced while the Paradox menu concocted by Jean-François Piège was served. Dom Pérignon met gastronomy, East met West, tradition met modernity as Dom Pérignon Vintage Rosé 2002 was being celebrated. One out of a thousand and one nights to remember…

Following the strong success of the Dom Pérignon Vintage 2002, the expectations were very high for the Rosé. My feeling is that they were met; my ambition is that they were surpassed; my wish is that you will concur. The story of 2002 is written into the wine: the spring was warm and dry leading to almost perfect flowering; the summer saw long sunny stretches interspersed with overcast and rainy spells, with one final sunny interlude before the harvest. It would be hard to think of a more favourable growing season.

This is reflected in the wine as Dom Pérignon Rosé Vintage 2002 lives up to its promise of accomplished harmony, offering a pure expression of the spirit of Dom Pérignon. This new vintage of Dom Pérignon Rosé will be declared in Istanbul, Turkey on January 23, 2013. I will narrate the tale of this highly awaited night in a future entry.

The growing season itself was challenging to say the least. Fortunately the harvest period was more positive (and in a way more straightforward) with nice weather, slow and steady maturation, and perfect sanitary conditions. Acknowledging this, our approach was to aim for maximum maturity while retaining as much freshness as possible. The balance between richness, intensity and acidity is close to some of the greatest vintages ever, such as 1952.

However the truth always lies in the glass; tasting the wines is the real test. The first impression mirrors the character of the vintage: assertive and free-spirited, built on a complex, sinuous history. The fruit and the intensity both point to a no-holds-barred vintage, while the sharp acidity already balances out the expressive maturity. The wines still feel raw at this stage, of course. Only time can smooth them out, refine their qualities, and allow us to assess how they might stand the test of decades.

To bring this metaphor to reality, Alexandre Desplat, Lang Lang and Robert Wilson were recently approached to compose, interpret and direct three music pieces inspired by three wines I had selected for their unprecedented character: Dom Pérignon Vintage 2003; Dom Pérignon Rosé 2000; and Dom Pérignon Oenothèque 1966. I invited them for successive tastings during which Alexandre put his sensations into words: Vintage 2003 “sparkling, with sudden breaks, like a mosaic of disorganized elements”; Rosé 2000 “sensual, flowing, cloudy, reminiscent of Debussy”; and Oenothèque 1966 “earthy, powerful, dense, like a slow rising”.

Much as Dom Pérignon reveals itself as it is savored, the raison d’être of a music piece is to be performed. Piano virtuoso Lang Lang and director Robert Wilson worked in concert to bring the musical notation to life. The three artists were involved right from the start and as Lang Lang noted during the first meeting in February, “it is rare these days to create new music together for such an unusual event, from the first idea to the last, as we are doing here”.

I could imagine no better setting for such a concert than the Château de Versailles and its timeless connection to Hautvillers, around a spectacular dinner desgined by Jean-François Piège. The Salon d’Hercule inspired the director: more specifically the “Feast at the Table of Saint Simon”, a painting by Veronese hanging from its walls, which suggested the idea of two long tables as the backdrop for the dancers. Robert Wilson, creating tension between classicism and modernity, mentioned that his challenge was “to create a stage design that will help the audience hear better with their eyes wide open”.

The performance was an emotional moment for me, as I witnessed Dom Pérignon finding its counterpart in the work of the artists. The rhythm of the music, its vibrancy and intensity evoked memories of Hautvillers, sending me back to the intimacy of my own creative experience. No further evidence was necessary to recognize that these three extraordinary artists had succeeded in transposing the spirit of Dom Pérignon into music, and I raised a glass of Dom Pérignon to their incredible talent!

In any case, 2012 will be a year of low quantities, even though we were lucky not to be particularly affected by frost (10% loss overall in the region) or hail. Limited quantities can turn into a boon, though, if the remaining grapes are in perfect sanitary condition and moving steadily towards the precise level of maturity we hope for—and this is exactly what we are seeing right now. Furthermore, despite the rather high projected sugar levels, the berries retain a high acidity. This in turn reminds us of the 1996 vintage, although any comparison is obviously premature.

We are planning to begin with the harvest tomorrow, not only based on hard facts but also the tasting of the grapes themselves: they start to display very intense, yet fresh aromatics. Join me again after the harvest to check whether our hopes were fulfilled.

The presence of the relics brought fame, pilgrims and riches to the Abbey. A young monk called dom Pierre Pérignon was named cellarer in 1668, at 29 years of age. He immediately set out to develop the abbey (creating a dormitory, rebuilding the cloister, erecting a new entrance and adding the Gates of Saint Helena); to enlarge the holdings (Hautvillers became the largest vineyard in Champagne at ten times the size of the average property); and to modernise the winemaking (selecting of grapes for the assemblage or renovating the wine presses). Under dom Pierre Pérignon’s guidance, the destiny of the Abbey became forever linked to viticulture and winemaking, and during the reign of Louis XIV Hautvillers became famous as much for its sparkling wine as for its spiritual importance.

Nearly 200 years after dom Pierre Pérignon’s death, the time for renovation had come again. In 2009 we commissioned a study in order to restore the gates of Saint Helena, the cloisters and the gardens employing special techniques from the 17th century. The gates and the cloister being French Heritage Sites, the work was supervised by an architect from the “Bâtiments de France”. Overlooking the gardens which offer a history of viticultural practices, the former library of the cloister has been restored to its former glory—its contemplative and serene aura providing the perfect setting for Dom Pérignon tastings. Finally, ruins discovered at the end of the 1980s following archeological excavations have been secured for further study. After three years of planning and labor, the renovations are now complete.

Like the men who left their mark in Hautvillers through architecture, contemplation and working the land, dom Pérignon was a temporary guardian, whose legacy lives on through the seminal treatise written by Brother Pierre, his disciple and successor, and titled “Treatise of the Vine Culture of Champagne”. The Abbey is still home to this unique and precious tome, both tangible links between past and present, symbols of modernity and tradition. The legacy of the Abbey of Hautvillers is beyond technical, it is first and foremost spiritual. Inspiration finds me here, as I walk its grounds and I become one with this space, with no objective other than remaining true to the timeless essence of Dom Pérignon.

Dom Pérignon didn’t start pushing the envelope recently: taking risks and embracing challenges has always been at the forefront of our philosophy. Combining Dom Pérignon’s singularity and the characteristics of the vintage is already a tour de force. Inviting the richness and intensity of the Pinot Noir to shine through the assemblage, yet retaining Dom Pérignon’s elegance and ability to withstand time is a paradox in itself. This feat was first achieved by my predecessors in 1959, with this visionary first vintage being revealed twelve years later during the 2,500th anniversary of the foundation of the Persian Empire. 863 magnums of Dom Pérignon Rosé 1959 were served for only this occasion, and it remains to this day among the most exclusive wines in the world.

Dom Pérignon Rosé is understandably created in even fewer vintages than Dom Pérignon Vintage: no Rosé was released in 1976, 1983 and 1999, whereas (paradoxically) 1986 welcomed a Rosé but no Blanc.

The introduction of Dom Pérignon Rosé Œnothèque two years ago was another tribute to the longevity of Dom Pérignon.

Dom Pérignon is, and has always been, exclusively a vintage wine. I could be content with simply letting the vintage express its characteristics through the wine; however, in a constant effort to push the envelope, it is crucial to go one step further: we embrace the vintage and confront it to the singularity of Dom Pérignon in an act of creation.

The growing season shapes a vintage, but rarely as much as in 2003. The spring began with a deceptively mild weather which was not to last: freezing temperatures and hailstorms in early April culminated in a devastating frost on April 11, which nipped most of the Chardonnay vines in the Côte des Blancs, and destroyed up to three-fourth of its potential harvest.

What would already have made for an eventful year was only the beginning, though: over the summer, the most intense heatwave in 53 years lead to the earliest harvest since 1822. Fortunately enough, the grapes were perfectly ripe and in exceptional sanitary condition. Overall, the contrasting weather conditions contributed to an extraordinary richness and concentration.

The features of a vintage gifted with such a personality as 2003 will inevitably make their way into the wine, as they should. Actually, such an extreme vintage can sometimes even be considered too forceful. This is exactly where my challenge lies: finding the perfect balance between the expression of the vintage and the singularity of Dom Pérignon, turning a contrast into a resonance. In this specific case, the richness and intensity of the vintage responds to the usual vibrancy and tactile presence of Dom Pérignon. In my tasting notes, desciptors such as spices, candied fruits or licorice, although not altogether foreign to Dom Pérignon, convey the uniqueness of the vintage; whereas Dom Pérignon asserts itself through briny, smoky notes on the nose, and its signature minerality on the palate.

Finally, as the year 2003 was unfolding, the challenge awaiting me became clearer and I sought the inspiration of older vintages in our Oenothèque: 1947, 1959 or 1976. All these great wines from solar vintages had easily managed to weather the decades, as they all seemed so fresh and alluring. The acidity level was a riddle in itself, but the key was to focus on freshness, which could be reached through minerality as well as vibrancy of the fruitiness. I’m convinced that the intensity coupled with such a precise, chiselled phenolic structure will confer to Dom Pérignon Vintage 2003 the stability through time I desired.

My greatest hope is that, in the history of Champagne, Dom Pérignon can endure as the greatest tribute to the 2003 vintage.

Dark Revelation is the new tasting ceremony of Dom Pérignon. Creating its own pace and atmosphere, Dark Revelation is a path through the chromatic palette of Dom Pérignon, each color personified in a singular dish to highlight a different facet of the vintage and to provoke a specific reaction in the audience.

Dom Pérignon Vintage 2003 is the first Vintage to be discovered by way of Dark Revelation. It is the perfect approach for me to lead our guests in a journey from the surface to the core until we reach the Dark, the essence of Dom Pérignon. From White to Dark, this ritualised tasting offers an unparalleled sensory experience in exclusive events held around the world. Follow me as I introduce you to Dark Revelation…

White. The egg. The creamy texture plays with the richness of Dom Pérignon, revealing its freshness. Surprising.

Yellow. Rice and saffron. The perfection of the rice invites Dom Pérignon Vintage 2003 to a dialogue of precision. In the background, the briny character of the saffron matches the focused minerality of the wine. Intriguing.

Green. Matcha. The wine envelops the lingering bitterness of the tea and soars ever higher. Seducing.

Red. Caviar and hibiscus. Sanguine and briny, this sensuous combination evolves into a Shakespearean drama. Fascinating.

Dark. Black mole and seared Foie gras. The ultimate step, exploring the depths of the wine. With its strong smoky and toasted notes, the mole brings out the energetic, warm side of Dom Pérignon Vintage 2003. Dazzling.

2011 was definitely atypical, with a rare phenomenon of inverted seasons: incredibly warm and dry weather before flowering, which hinted at an early harvest; followed by cooler temperatures and beneficial soft rains over the summer. The grape maturation cycle, which generally lasts until September, was confined fully to the month of August and its typical alternance of heat and thunderstorms. In the end we decided to harvest a bit later than planned (but still earlier than usual) and in several phases to reach perfect maturity and sanitary conditions across the vineyards. Tough decisions had to be made as the harvest progressed, calling on our teams’ flexibility and adaptability, such as the need to postpone the harvest by a full week for most of the Chardonnay Grand Cru vineyards of the Côte de Blancs. Our efforts to create new markers and indicators of maturity found their full significance during this unconventional harvest. It is worth noting that no harvest took place in August between 1822 and 2003, but this circumstance presented itself three times (2003, 2007 and 2011) in the last ten years: all the experience accumulated with these specific conditions during recent vintages will certainly end up being very useful in the near future.

Picking the best possible grapes is obviously only one step in a lengthy journey to create the best champagne I can. I am focusing right now on blending the various components of 2011, trying to reach the perfect balance. Only when the final assemblage has been achieved can we move on to the decision of declaring the vintage or not. The aim is the same as ever: letting the personality of the vintage shine while staying true to the legacy and style of Dom Pérignon.

Vintage 2003 was the perfect occasion to prove our ultimate commitment to the vintage, and to our philosophy of risk-taking, and wine critics and writers have acknowledged that. I wanted to share the moment of declaration of the vintage with this audience.

Today, wine experts worldwide are invited to premiere Dom Pérignon Vintage 2003. Screens connecting Paris, London, New York, Hong Kong and Tokyo will allow our guests to taste at the same time, while I will be hosting the event from Paris. A specific Twitter hashtag (#dpdeclares) is used for this occasion. You are most welcome to follow the conversation, on Twitter @r_geoffroy and reading the first reactions on www.2003.domperignon.com.

The 2003 Dom Pérignon has already received numerous accolades: Bruce Sanderson (The Wine Spectator) lauded its “impressive core of fruit and structure” as well as its “finish that retained elegance, freshness, finesse and complexity”; Antonio Galloni (The Wine Advocate) declared it “one of the most thoughtprovoking Champagnes I have tasted in a long time”; Richard Juhlin simply named it his Champagne of the vintage and noted its long aging potential.

Dom Pérignon Vintage 2003 will be available in three weeks. I look forward to traveling the world and sharing this great vintage.

The adventure will continue here in the same spirit as in 2010, which means your participation is not only welcome, but encouraged!

Photo: Guido Mocafico (Katja Martinez Agency)

We have been tasting the 2010 base wines no fewer than three times in the past couple of months. It only confirms the first impressions we had at the end of the harvest. My feeling at this stage is that the 2010 vintage does not deserve the lukewarm comments by some. The Chardonnays have developed brilliantly, sometimes on the verge of over-ripeness (reminiscent in this of 2002) with a rich mouthfeel and a striking fruitiness. However Dom Pérignon is always an assemblage, and the other side of the picture is just as critical: the Pinot Noirs were carefully and properly sorted at the time of picking. They all display good structure and presence, but are maybe lacking a bit in freshness and vibrancy. It will be interesting to see how these Pinots evolve until we prepare the final assemblage in the early Spring of 2011. We will only then make up our mind: to declare or not to declare.

Dom Pérignon Œnothèque was launched in 2000, long enough ago to look back on what started like a revolution and now feels so natural. We went full circle earlier this year through the addition of Rosé to the Œnothèque program—this was quite an event! Our offer remains limited but consistent, with only two assemblages, White and Rosé, each available in successive Vintage and Œnothèque releases. Ten years ago, when we decided to open the door of our wine library and make the treasures of Dom Pérignon available to the outside world, my feeling was first and foremost of pride. Nothing personal, as I did not create these vintages, yet proud I was of the incredible longevity of Dom Pérignon and the contributions of my predecessors. The former Chefs de Cave had indeed been visionary enough to put all these great vintages aside, purely for the sake of memory and legacy.

Dom Pérignon keeps pushing one step further, sometimes rewriting the rules, to pave the path for renewed experiences. So does Œnothèque, glorifying the exclusive process of actively aging a wine on its lees to offer a magnified style through re-releases. Œnothèque prolongs the character of the original Vintage wine, coming ever closer to the ideal of Dom Pérignon. The patience of wine lovers is now rewarded with a deeper, more intimate discovery and perception of Dom Pérignon. The current Vintage is put in proper perspective by giving a glimpse of the aging potential. It would now be virtually impossible for me to imagine Dom Pérignon without its Œnothèque expression.

Photos: Mi-Hyun Kim

The Andy Warhol Diaries
March 8, 1981

I have always loved this anecdote shared by Andy Warhol in his diaries… More than 20 years after leaving us, Warhol’s presence has rarely been felt so strongly. I am pleased that Dom Pérignon is now paying an homage to him through a limited edition release of the 2002 vintage. Andy Warhol is a true icon who broke and reinvented every rule in the artistic field. He was unique in his ability to show it all, yet retain his own world of inviolable privacy.

Royal ballotine of pheasant
Petit pâté en croûte à la bourgeoise
Fresh deep-sea oysters
Lobster aspic chaud-froid

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Beef madrilène with gold leaf spangles
Puréed chestnut soup with truffles from the Court of Italy
Bisque of shellfish from our coasts with a boletus infusion
Pumpkin soup, fresh from the Royal vegetable garden

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Scallops with oyster liquor
Wild duck cromesquis à la Villeroy
Hare stew
Roast beef, carrots and smoked eel
Wild salmon au sel

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Green and fresh herb salad in gold leaf
Rice salad à la royale
Morel soufflé
Iced cheese
Hard-boiled egg

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Edible Candle

Great wines are blessed with a transcendental quality: they are the time machine bringing the finite of fruit into the infinite realm of imagination and emotion. One year ago (to the very day!), we embarked on a journey back to the seventeenth century, the Palace of Versailles and the Sun King’s table, with the help of Dom Pérignon Œnothèque.

Pierre Pérignon, unanimously recognized as the spiritual father of Champagne, was the exact contemporary of Louis XIV. We know that the Sun King loved Père Pérignon’s wine more than any other; cases upon cases were ordered for his court and his table. More than three centuries later, it was legitimate to go full circle and hold an incredible event in homage to the King and his vision of a luxury à la Française, re-creating the mythical Sun King’s Table. But more than a re-creation, it had to be a performance, a true ceremony in the name of pleasure: in the Antichambre du Grand Couvert, the exact place where the King took his meals every evening, re-opened for the first time for a reception, a banquet prepared by Jean-François Piège in the spirit of the era, served by waiters in livery, and accompanied by a unique wine throughout: the solar 1976 Dom Pérignon Œnothèque.

]]> http://www.creatingdomperignon.com/at-the-kings-table/feed/ 1 http://www.creatingdomperignon.com/at-the-kings-table/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CreatingDomPerignon/~3/FHoGRxL24og/ http://www.creatingdomperignon.com/2002-part-3/#comments Wed, 27 Oct 2010 21:54:00 +0000 Richard Geoffroy http://www.creatingdomperignon.com/?p=597 A couple of months ago I discussed the opinions of US critics and journalists regarding 2002 Dom Pérignon, mentioning that their colleagues from the UK were sure to follow with their own commentaries.

Jancis Robinson MW had great words about this champagne, starting with the “extraordinarily firm, confident, intense nose”, and comparing it to one of the greatest wines in the world: “Definitely the savoury side of Dom. Nothing remotely sweet or fat – though it’s as intense as a Montrachet [...] More like a Montrachet with a bit of carbon dioxide laced into it than a typical Champagne.” She gave it a perfect score of 20/20, only the fourth Champagne to get this honor.

Serena Sutcliffe MW was equally praiseful: “A great bouquet of almost apple freshness as you open it. It totally tingles on the tongue. Utterly luscious and yet with ultimate finesse. Next day, on ullage, under a pressure cork: amazing, alluring Champagne, all minerality and toast – instantly recognisable Dom Pérignon.”

I would like to conclude this short overview with a nice blog article written by Anthony Rose about the Dom Pérignon releases in 2010, and in particular 2002 Dom Pérignon.