1996 Dom Perignon P2
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Tasting notes
Wafting from the glass with notes of pear, citrus oil, wheat toast, iodine, smoke and dried white flowers, the 1996 Dom Pérignon P2 is medium to full-bodied, layered and incisive, with a chalky, tight-knit core, excellent concentration and racy acids, concluding with a long, sapid finish. The 1996 is still quite reserved, but in all its various incarnations—from the original release, the Oenothèque and the P2—it has been consistently superb. Readers with bottles in their cellars need be in no hurry to pop corks, as the wine still has a long future ahead of it.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jancis Robinson MW
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
The 1996 Dom Pérignon P2 is another absolutely stellar Champagne. When it was first release, the 1996 was painfully austere, but time has added a great deal of flesh to match the wine’s vibrant, energetic personality. Both 1996s are magnificent. We are off to the races.
Once painfully austere and unapproachable, the 1996 Dom Pérignon P2 has filled out beautifully. The interplay of vintage 1996 tension and the wine’s fruit opens up to reveal an intricate latticework of lemon confit, mint, white flowers and crushed rocks, with that classic dash of reduction that is so typical of P2 and extended aging on the lees. Complex and wonderfully inviting, the 1996 P2 is positively riveting in this tasting. In a flight of P2s, the 1996 stands out for its multi-dimensional, kaleidoscopic personality.
Famously acidic vintage, concentrated by a persistent north-east wind. Richard Geoffroy describes this wine as insolent. The P2 was released in 2011. ‘Everything was high.’ Very, very light pink tinge. Reductive note. Extremely tense and tight. Still lots of phenolics. Narrow. Almost painful acidity but in this wine there is enough fruit and substance – unlike many 1996s. So long! Dramatic. Really very successful. (JR)
About the producer
Dom Pérignon is one of the most highly regarded and well-known Champagnes in the world. The first and original prestige cuvée Champagne, it is today owned by LVMH.