Dom Perignon Vintage 2010

The wine in this vintage

Champagne endured a difficult summer in 2010: heavy rain in mid-August encouraged botrytis, hitting Pinot Noir hardest and demanding rigorous sorting in the vineyard. Chardonnay held up better, yielding fresh, luminous wines. Dom Pérignon nonetheless declared the vintage, crafting a surprisingly precise and crystalline Vintage 2010: white flowers, grapefruit and pear, followed by toasted bread and a hint of iodine. The palate is taut and saline, with a fine bead and an elegant finish. Wine Enthusiast scored it 96 points. It is now showing beautifully expressive form and can continue to refine for several years.

The producer · Dom Perignon

Dom Pérignon takes its name from Pierre Pérignon, the Benedictine cellar master of the Abbey of Hautvillers in the late seventeenth century, whom tradition regards as the spiritual father of Champagne for his pioneering approach to blending. The house, closely tied to Moët & Chandon and now part of LVMH, released its first vintage, the 1921, in 1936, effectively inventing the prestige cuvée. Dom Pérignon is made only as a vintage wine, and only in years judged worthy, from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir drawn from the finest crus of the region, with Hautvillers as its symbolic home. The style pursues a constant tension between the two grapes, between power and precision, with a mineral, toasty signature that unfolds slowly over years. Alongside the Vintage, the house releases a Rosé and the Plénitudes, later releases of the same vintage after far longer ageing on the lees, which show how the wine transforms with time. Few names embody the very idea of great Champagne so completely.

Critics' scores

• 96 Wine Enthusiast
• 18.5/20 Jancis Robinson

Technical details

Producer

Dom Perignon

Region

Champagne

Country

Francia

Type

Bollicine

Vintage

2010

When to drink

Hold, still evolving

Critics' average

96/100

Sizes

75 cl, Magnum 150 cl, Case of 6 × 75 cl

eWibe code

0420110