2013 Dom Perignon

The 2013 Dom Pérignon is pretty closed right now. Deep and layered, the 2013 shows quite a bit of density today. It's a typical wine for this vintage, a year marked by a warm summer but a late harvest because the growing season got off to a late start. The 2013 is finally starting to open a bit and show some textural breadth, but it remains on the reticent side.

Tasted blind. Amidst a blind line-up of relatively big name champagnes (La Grande Dame 2015, Moët Grande Vintage 2015, Krug Grand Cuvée), this stood out head and shoulders above the rest. Lusty, guttural, uncompromising. Big, powerfully toasty nose! Here be fireworks. Tiny bubbles, like 3D lace running a matrix through the wine. Clementine, straw, yuzu, kumquat, sharp apples – so much fruit! And then long, hungry, lean savoury lines. Grilled sourdough toast, roasted walnuts. So much here. Very, very long and very, very persistent. This is outstanding. The bubbles are like tiny, glittering jewels stitched into silk. A seriously exciting, serious wine. For special occasions I could almost too easily be persuaded to part with £250 for a bottle of this. (TC)

Silky, narrowly sculpted and serene, Dom Pérignon 2013 is a less hedonistic release than the 2012 (and less intensely energetic than the 2008), but showcases a beautiful mid-place between tension and expressiveness already. Orange-coloured fruit – apricots, mango and orange – play along with snappy lemon syrup and delicate red fruits, the palate teased into considerable detail and length with some trademark Dom Pérignon smokiness. There is immediate pleasure here, although cellaring will let some of the inner complexity unfurl, revealing this to the among the finest Dom Pérignon releases of recent times. 51% Pinot Noir, 49% Chardonnay.