Will this be your favorite champagne this festive season?

Whenever a vintage Dom Pérignon appears, a wave of excitement always sweeps through the world of champagne connoisseurs. And this year, with the arrival of Dom Pérignon Vintage 2009, it is no different.

Just a quick champagne basics lesson: most champagne houses have a ‘cuvée de prestige’. These are the finest wines, made only in exceptional harvest years (sometimes with a year on the label, in which case it is called a vintage champagne).

Reputation
At Moët & Chandon, the best-selling champagne in the world, this most prestigious line is called Dom Pérignon (DP for short; DééPéé to aficionados). The roots of this legendary champagne lie in the Benedictine abbey of Hautvillers, near Reims. It was the monk Dom Pérignon who developed the process for sparkling wine (‘méthode champagnoise’) at the end of the 17th century. Today, the internationally renowned ‘chef du cave’ Richard Geoffroy watches over the 110 km of chalk cellars belonging to this top house. The grapes grow on 1,200 hectares of so-called grand cru and premier cru vineyards. The cool climate and the rich chalk and loam soils complete this house’s impeccable reputation.

Earlier than the 2008
DP needs at least eight years to mature. For standard vintage champagne, this is at least three years. What is striking about the 2009 Vintage is that it is appearing before the 2008 vintage. This is because 2009 was a favorable, warm and abundant year for the grape harvest, while 2008 was cooler, meaning the 2008 needs to mature a little longer. As cellar master Richard Geoffroy puts it, with a sense of drama: “We needed the experience of all the past vintages to dare to produce 2009”.

High scores
The newest DP scores exceptionally high marks with international champagne critics. The 2009 edition receives 97 points from James Suckling (“It’s like a top grand cru white Burgundy“), 96 points from Decanter and 18 (out of 20) points from undisputed champagne guru Jancis Robinson.

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Verdict
We wholeheartedly agree with these accolades after an evening of extensive tasting during an exuberant launch dinner by FavorFlav favorite Schilo van Coevorden at the Conservatorium Hotel, where the Vintage 2009 was generously poured with every course. We could now, to quote Geoffroy, talk about ‘magnificently ripe fruit’ and a ‘syrupy, silky texture’, but above all it is a wonderfully delicious champagne. Plenty of freshness, beautiful subtle acidity, and an abundance of ripe fruit. And is it really so strange to say that it can hold its own against the mythical DP Vintage 2002?

Limited edition
The DP 2009 is a champagne we would gladly uncork again on a special occasion – or simply because we can. Or perhaps we’ll give it as a gift this festive season to someone we really like. Also see the video of the limited edition, which is sold in a special gift box. Designed by Japanese artist Tokujin Yoshioka. He also created a work of Baccarat crystal incorporating the 2009 bottle: Prisma. Dom Pérignon has a tradition of collaborating with renowned designers from the worlds of art, design, fashion, photography and film, including Karl Lagerfeld, David Lynch, Andy Warhol and Jeff Koons.

The limited edition is available from € 179.50 at better specialist wine shops (both the Blanc and the Rosé).