[F]rom the fields of France to the tables in Barcelona, we have been on some amazing journeys with Dom Pérignon. The latest adventure has us standing over the Californian desert horizon of Joshua Tree, drawing parallels between a 100 million year old natural park with its rich history of change and Dom Pérignon’s 1998 vintage which is now, according to Chef de Cave Richard Geoffroy, entering its Second Pléntitude on its own journey through time and change.
The Second Pléntitude, or P2 as they call it, happens around year fifteen in the champagne aging process. According to Geoffroy, champagne has three peak stages: The first at around seven years, the second at fifteen and the final stage around thirty. For the sake of comparison, a typical champagne is aged around three years. When you contrast the aging of Joshua Tree and how it has had many stages created and affected by nature you see how the stages of champagne are a small mirror to a vast landscape, both displaying their beautiful triumphs as a result of mother nature.
I love champagne, of course, it is greatly heightened by the master craft and artisanship of a wine like Dom, but I don’t drink it because of the name on the label. I love champagne because I’ve never had a bad time with it. It evokes memories of celebration, joy, friendship, laughter, perfect sunsets and even perfect sunrises. When we toast with champagne it is that sparkle in our eyes that effortlessly compliments the golden movements of the silent symphony inside that golden glass leaving your memories to float up into the night-sky and dance among the stars.
“I really believe it is all about the shared vibrancy and depth. This is deeply rooted and connected to the elements, and I’d say to the lands as well- so mineral so magnetic, so spiritual. It’s a connection to the origins of life never forgetting their has been a period when the same ocean was a link to the territory of Joshua Tree Park and the great terroir of champagne,… the great terroir of Dom Pérignon.” -Richard Geoffroy
“There is a saying that great wines start in the vineyards. Inevitably my response is actually the greatest asset to Dom Pérignon is the vision. These wines are made with a vision and it makes a hell of a difference. Once you are set on a vision you may venture out very far from the home base and then you have the confidence that you can set back to that path for good. This is the philosophy at Dom Pérignon and venturing out is defiantly proudly witnessing the glorious champagne years for what they are. I think that all wine lovers, Dom Pérignon followers and lovers, want to be told of the great stories of the champagne years which is exactly what you sample in the vintage of 1998. The journey of the vintages are distinct and exclusive in character are exquisite pieces of a wine. To achieve such a proposition in vintages, one has to take the challenges and to turn the constraints into as many opportunities. It’s about being on the toes, pushing the envelope, taking the risk. There is a lot of risk in all the wines and anything of the past. Success is being able to achieve the extra dimension, the extra soul which differentiates the great from the good. Dom Pérignon has the capacity to reinvent itself throughout the vintages. The reciprocal on the balance, we only want to achieve the balance at the very highest, it is what the unique world of Dom Pérignon is all about.” -Richard Geoffroy
More experiences with Dom Pérignon:
Dinner with Dom Pérignon in Hautvillers, France || The Harvest with Dom Pérignon
“This is not a Dinner” in Barcelona, Spain || Decoding Dom Pérignon