Minor Label Damage, Minor Capsule Damage
Overview
An exceptional release from one of Champagne’s most prestigious vintage cuvées, the 2002 Dom Pérignon combines remarkable concentration, complexity and ageing potential. Awarded 97 points by Decanter, this acclaimed vintage offers mature richness, persistent freshness and the refined structure expected from Dom Pérignon.
Vintage
The growing season began with a warm, dry spring and near-perfect flowering. Long periods of sunshine were interspersed with regular cloudy and rainy spells throughout summer. Ideal weather immediately before harvest helped compensate for heavy rainfall in late August and early September.
The grapes remained healthy, while partial dehydration helped the fruit achieve exceptional ripeness and concentration. Harvest took place between 12 and 28 September 2002.
Tasting Profile
Producer Tasting Note
The first hints of fresh almond and harvest aromas immediately open up into preserved lemon and dried fruits, the whole rounded off by darker smoky and toasted qualities. The presence of the wine on the palate is immediately captivating. Paradoxically concentrated yet creamy, it is energetic and warm in the mouth, focusing on the fruit, then gradually taking on more profound bass notes. The whole holds its note perfectly, intensely, with just a subtle, elegant hint of underlying bitterness.
Critic Reviews
97 Points — Decanter
Tasted November 2018
Drinking Window: 2019–2050
96 Points — Falstaff
Tasted November 2011
Radiant gold yellow, vigorous and persistent bubbles. Fine toasty notes of brioche and hazelnut, fine floral touch pervaded by white peach and orange zest nuances with a hint of vanilla. On the palate full-bodied, elegant, fine and vibrant acidity, racy, fine yellow tropical fruit nuances, complex mineral finish, almost salty in the aftertaste.
96 Points — Tom Cannavan
Tasted January 2018
This is a super-concentrated vintage in Champagne… Nevertheless it is a grand vintage, and a grand Dom Pérignon… the best examples of ’02 have neutron-star-like density, immense richness and a long, honeyed sweetness.
Drinking Window: 2022–2042
95 Points — Jeff Leve, The Wine Cellar Insider
Tasted March 2012
Minerality essence, citrus, tropical fruit, floral, honeysuckle and toast aromas prepare you for the complex, concentrated, sweet yellow fruit and stone filled palate. Creamy, but not as flashy, opulent or open as the 1996 was at the same stage.
19/20 — Vinum Wine Magazine
Tasted December 2010
Superbe, komplexe Nase von Gebäck, Blumen, Kräutern und Gewürzen, verführerisch und dezent; von grosser Delikatesse im Mund, von schon fast dekadenter Eleganz, abgerundet und rund und reif und cremig und von perfekter Harmonie.
Specifications
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Vintage: 2002
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Producer: Dom Pérignon
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Wine Style: Vintage Brut Champagne
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Blend: Chardonnay and Pinot Noir
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Region: Champagne
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Country: France
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Production Method: Traditional Method
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Dosage: Brut
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Alcohol: 12–12.5%
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Drinking Window: 2019–2050
