Highlights: Champagne Dom Pérignon Rosé 2006 France

Sometimes when a wine is really expensive, you almost don’t want it to be too good. This, the pink version of Dom Pérignon – the most famous prestige cuvée of all – is annoyingly good. Interestingly, it has 20% red wine in the blend – a more normal level would be 8-12% (for Dom Pérignon the range is 12-28%, so it varies by vintage). The result is a complex, elegant wine with structure and depth.

1959 was the first vintage of the Dom Pérignon rosé, while the white has been going since 1921. On average there are 7-8 vintages per decade for the Blanc, but just 4 or 5 for the rosé, reflecting the difficulty of getting top quality red wines in the Champagne region.

Champagne Dom Pérignon Rosé 2006 France
12.5% alcohol. 56% Pinot Noir, 44% Chardonnay, with 20% red wine in the blend. Disgorged in January 2018 after 11 years on lees, with a dosage of 6 g/l. This is orange/pink in colour. It’s a really complex wine with a distinctive spicy, savoury edge to the cherry, plum and pear fruit. It has a lively citrus character on the finish, with lovely precision to the fruit, and a distinctive mineral savouriness and some toasty, autolytic notes from the long lees ageing. Amazing depth and presence to this wine. Yes, it’s astonishingly expensive, but it’s really, really good. I just love the savoury complexity here. 96/100 (JG)

Wild raspberry, wild cherry imbues an ample salted brioche base, threaded with bergamot, red currants, dried florals, dried thyme, dried rosemary, toast, and hints of smoked salts. The palate is expansive, growing with time in the glass, while the fizz is gently, persistently pétillant rather than forwardly fizzy, contributing to this vinous, gastronomic wine. Sophisticated and expressive, Dom 2006 Rosé lingers long on the brooding, broad shouldered palate, with a vibrato that hums to a hinting bitter orange / espresso note. Pinot Noir (56%) and Chardonnay is mellowed and deepened with the addition of 20% still Pinot, and finished with 6 g/l dosage. This is the first time in the history of Dom Pérignon Rosé, born with the 1959 vintage, that five consecutive vintages have been released. Has many, many years ahead. 94/100 (TR)

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