2010 Dom Perignon
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Tasting Notes
It is no surprise, of course, that in the masterful hands of the team at Dom Perignon the final result is entirely worthy of this prestige bottling. Chaperon describes the vintage conditions as having been similar to 1995. He describes the growing season as 'dynamic' in terms of the speed of ripening, and challenging weather late in the season meant the team had to be extremely stringent in their picking and sorting. The result for Chaperon, however, was some of the best Chardonnay they have ever produced. This is a super stylish Dom Perignon - smoky and mineral, moreishly savoury, complex and tense, and with stunning promise to evolve beautifully in bottle. With a score from Richard Juhlin matching the legendary 1996 Dom Perignon and rave reviews from several professional tasters, the 2010 may not be surrounded by the same hype as the 2008 vintage, but it is certainly a masterful Dom Perignon through and through. The nose is stylishly smoky and savoury. Loads of mineral-inflected oyster-shell and salty seaweed. If there is a slight insouciance on the nose - as if not really wanting to reveal its inner core - the palate is another story. Bright fruit and generous texture abound - this is a voluminous, energetic and dynamic DP with fantastic complexity and length. Definitely stylish, definitely leaning towards the tense, mineral and cool in terms of overall personality, but with wonderful hidden depths.
Critic Scores
Average Score
William Kelley, Wine Advocate
Essi Avellan MW
More reviews and scores
Gorgeous, amply toasty and smoky nose. Still holding back. The fruit is impeccably crisp and appetising but still the palate carries the best surprises. There is such volume and generosity but look at the acidity rolling in complementing the exciting textural dynamics. It comes with a superbly saline and perfectly pristine finish, leaving the moth satisfyingly refreshed, yet yearning for more. There is an appetising fluffiness to the mousse and the wine takes its 5g/l dosage effortlessly. This is undoubtedly is a Dom Pérignon that will keep on giving. 95 points with potential for 97.
Amazingly, obviously, Dom P on the nose – the powerful lemon-mousse nose came soaring out of the glass long before my nose got anywhere near it. Massive intensity of complex aroma hints that this might be a little blowsy on the palate but not a bit of it. It's really tense and tight on the palate and has a certain fumey smokiness to the very concentrated palate. But its most marked feature is the persistence of the finish. This, along with the concentration, makes me confident we will be seeing this in a P2 version, even though 15% of the potential Pinot Noir was left on the ground. Definitely not a weak vintage of Dom P.
The 2010 Dom Pérignon is already expressive, wafting from the glass with aromas of crisp green apple, peach, iodine, freshly baked bread, orange oil and smoke. Medium to full-bodied, pillowy and charming, it's soft and round, with ripe acids, a moderately concentrated core of fruit and a pearly mousse, concluding with a saline finish. Open-knit and pretty, this is a giving Dom Pérignon that readers might think of as reminiscent of a less reductive version of the 2000 vintage.
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About the producer
Dom Pérignon is one of the most highly regarded and well-known Champagnes in the world. The first and original prestige cuvée Champagne, it is today owned by LVMH.