The venue was once again the spectacular Boros Penthouse, owned by art collectors Christian and Karen Boros, situated on the roof of the former Reichsbahn bunker in Berlin. It was here that Dom Pérignon had also unveiled the 2015 vintage as part of the ‘Jean-Michel Basquiat’ artist’s edition in October 2024. This time, the focus was more on the champagnes themselves – which is why Amine Ghanem, one of the Maison’s winemakers, had travelled from Épernay to the River Spree. Expectations were extremely high. After all, it was not just the current pair of vintages – the 2017 Blanc and the 2010 Rosé – that were being presented, but also the 2008 vintage as ‘Plénitude 2’, a version featuring extended bottle fermentation. This concept originated from the house’s Oenothèque range. Dom Pérignon now features the P1, P2 and P3 variants. In the words of American collectors: the green, the black and the golden label. Translated into ageing categories, this means around eight, 15 and finally 25 years or more on the lees.
The legacy of Richard Geoffroy
This concept, whose name stands for ‘fullness’ or ‘perfect balance’, was devised by Richard Geoffroy. It is based on the intuition that a great champagne does not have just one optimal stage of release. Instead, it realises its potential at various stages, taking on different forms of expression. Richard Geoffroy, who served as Chef de Cave at Dom Pérignon between 1996 and 2018, has long since been succeeded by Vincent Chaperon. Yet all three of the champagnes presented this evening were still his creations. What’s more, 2017 was the last vintage for which he was responsible – ‘my last fight’, as he once called it. The 2008 vintage was the last one that Geoffroy himself presented in 2018. It coincided with his farewell celebration, which the Maison marked over three days in Paris and Hautvillers. The era of Richard Geoffroy, the philosopher amongst champagne makers, as I wrote at the time in my report, “comes to an end with a veritable wine and culinary feast”.
That evening, Amine Ghanem presented the champagnes. A native of Lebanon and a qualified agricultural engineer, he had arrived in Reims in 2005. After studying oenology and spending ten years as a wine globetrotter, he joined Moët & Chandon in 2016, before becoming winemaker at Dom Pérignon in 2023. Thanks to his training, he has a technically precise understanding of champagne. This allowed us to discuss in detail the development of the house’s own yeasts – two each for the fermentation of the base wines and two for in-bottle fermentation – which the Maison has selected from 18 different plots. At the same time, the musician – he plays the oud, the oriental guitar, at a semi-professional level – also possesses an artistic side and, as a self-declared epicurean, a hedonistic one too. In short: one could not have wished for a better host and table companion that evening. In this union of opposites, he himself embodies the fundamental principle of Dom Pérignon, which consists of half Chardonnay and half Pinot Noir.
A magical trio: 2017 Blanc, 2010 Rosé and 2008 Blanc P2
Vintage 2017 does, in any case, deviate slightly from this rule, as the proportion of Chardonnay is unusually high at 61 per cent against 39 per cent for Pinot. After the 1970 vintage (65%) this is the highest proportion of white grapes in the blend. And the smallest production volume ever. This was due to the difficult vintage, in which boytritis affected frequently the late-ripening Pinot Noir. Nevertheless, the vintage is a resounding success. It has slightly ‘leaner’ shoulders than usual, with stone fruits, toasted bread and ‘dry honey’ on the nose. Focused on the palate, with a subtle phenolic bitterness, low dosage (5g) and invigorating salinity (95p). 2008 P2, by contrast, comes from a vintage that is already legendary today. Unlike the P1, it is not aged under a crown cap but under a natural cork, which provides better long-term protection against oxidation. The nose is, in any case, heavily characterized by autolysis, with roasted hazelnuts, brioche and nougat dominating. On the palate, it is wonderfully fresh, with immense richness and a fascinating chalky-salty finish (98p).
It would be a mistake to automatically classify the 2008 P2 as ‘better’ than the classic P1. The discussion arose once in 2018 in Hautvillers during the presentation of the 1990 P3. Renowned collectors asserted that the ‘green label’ of the 1990 vintage was even more exciting than ‘the gold label’. That extended bottle fermentation does not necessarily offer an advantage over bottle ageing. In any case, the 2008, tasted as a P1 at the time, was also magnificent. It is rightly regarded as one of the Maison’s greatest vintages ever. A final verdict will probably require a little more time – and the release of the P3! After all, the Dom Pérignon Rosé 2010 was also an exceptionally delicious cuvée. It, too, came from a challenging year, which Dom Pérignon mastered remarkably well. Here I must refer you to my article in the forthcoming issue of ‘Champagne Magazin’.
A final word must go to the exceptional wine pairings by Daniel Gottschlich from the two-star Ox & Klee in Cologne. His ‘Oyster | Hazelnut | Green Mango | Krause Glucke’ served with the P2 was one of the most delightful wine pairings of recent years!
Image credits
Stefan Pegatzky / Time Tunnel Images
