LeDomduVin: Back on track after a 6-month hiatus
Looking at my blog, I realized I haven't posted anything since last April, and now that it is October, that is a lot of months, and, more specifically, a lot of wines I need to catch up on.
So, let us start with this post, and don't be surprised if I post a lot after this one in the coming days and weeks; these are just a few of the numerous bottles I have opened, tasted, and served in the past six months.
Dom Pérignon Champagne Plénitude 2 (P2) 2003
Those who follow me know I am not a big fan of the 2003 vintage across France. It was a difficult vintage across the board, due to a major spring frost in regions like Champagne, followed by the first massive, scorching heat wave of the new century, which affected most vineyard regions in France and most of Western Europe in June, July, and August.
It was somewhat unprecedented. Producers and winemakers had their first taste of what would become the new norm in the decades to come, and back then had little knowledge of what to do: harvest early to keep the freshness at the risk of having high acidity and unripe green tannins, or harvest late to take advantage of full ripeness at the risk of having overripe fruit, low acidity, and high alcohol. Or do a bit of both to try to balance it, risking unbalanced wines with weird acidity, ripe fruit, high alcohol, and green tannins.
Well, to say the least, it was one of the most inhomogeneous vintages I have ever tasted in my 35-year career as a sommelier and wine buyer, especially in Bordeaux when I tasted the wine En Primeur.
Unfortunately, this Dom Pérignon P2 2003 is a good example of how difficult this vintage was. Its blend, for example, differs from previous vintages, featuring an unusual 62% Pinot Noir and 38% Chardonnay, compared to the common 50/50 due to the heat wave. This unusual blend became a recurring pattern in subsequent vintages, such as 2006.
Basically, 2003 was a difficult vintage for Chardonnay in Champagne (and other grapes across France and other countries), as widespread, severe frosts in April hit early-budding varieties like Chardonnay hardest, slashing overall regional yields by roughly 50%.
This forced the producers and winemakers to rely on Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier to obtain some freshness. Yet the record heatwave of June, July, and August brought unprecedented temperatures soaring past 40°C, causing rapid ripening and the earliest Champagne harvest since 1822 (starting in late August).
The extreme weather produced very low total acidity levels (around 5.8 g/l) and high sugar concentration. For Chardonnay, which relies heavily on crisp, linear acidity and structural tension, this meant wines were unusually round, heavy, and ripe rather than lean or mineral.
In response to a comment on the short version of this post I posted earlier on LinkedIn, I answered that "I don't even think that they should have made this particular vintage..." and I don't think I'm the only one who feels that way, as many houses skipped declaring the vintage altogether. Those that did—such as Krug or Dom Pérignon—had to significantly adapt their standard recipes. Krug, for example, used a much lower proportion of Chardonnay (about 25%) and relied more on Meunier and Pinot Noir for structure and freshness.
Despite aging for roughly 15 years on its lees in the cellar (disgorged in September 2019 with a dosage of 5 g/l and released in 2021 after 3 years in the bottle), the resulting champagne is much sunnier, denser, heavier, rounder and more muscular than previous vintages. That might please the palate of some heavier, riper champagne-style drinkers, but not mine.
I don't mind richness, complexity, and density, as long as it doesn't overpower the champagne's freshness, acidity, and minerality, which is the case for this 2003 vintage. Champagne houses such as Krug and Egly-Ouriet are notorious for a complex, layered, slightly heavier style. Still, they remain refined and elegant, unlike this DP P2 2003 (in my opinion).
So why open, taste, and serve it if I don't care for it, you might ask? Well, as a Sommelier and Wine Buyer, it is my duty and responsibility to taste and re-taste as much as I can and to keep an open, flexible mind, because wine is a living being: it evolves with time and storage conditions. It goes through open and closed phases, and more than once, vintages considered lesser surprised me after a certain period of time.
For a Sommelier, it is important to stand your ground in your view of a wine, but also to see not only the flaws but the qualities, and to understand why people with a different palate than yours may appreciate it. It is probably one of the most essential rules for a Sommelier and Wine buyer: you taste and buy with your own taste buds and appreciation, but you're not buying for yourself; you're buying for customers who have a wide range of palates, appreciations, and levels of knowledge that are different from yours.
Consequently, you must be able to taste and buy based on your understanding of why some people will like it. You have to identify the wine's intrinsic potential, qualities, and characteristics for what they are, not for what you want them to be.
Domaine Fontaine-Gagnard Bâtard-Montrachet 2020
Fontaine-Gagnard is a classic in my book. I've opened quite a few bottles in the past few years, and they have all been a pleasure.
Domaine Fontaine-Gagnard is in the village of Chassagne-Montrachet. It was established in 1985 by Laurence Gagnard and her husband, Richard Fontaine, following Laurence's inheritance of a portion of Domaine Gagnard-Delagrange.
Céline Fontaine (Laurence and Richard's daughter) joined her family estate in 2007 and now runs the Domaine, which encompasses 12 hectares of vineyards, mainly in Chassagne-Montrachet, across several Premiers Crus and a few plots in Volnay and Pommard.
They also hold holdings in the prestigious Grands Crus vineyards of Le Montrachet, Bâtard-Montrachet, and Criots-Batard-Montrachet and a few plots classified as Bourgogne rouge and Bourgogne blanc.
Their wine range covers 22 different appellations. Roughly two-thirds of production is devoted to white wine (around Chassagne-Montrachet) and one-third to red (Volnay and Pommard).
In the vineyard, they use sustainable agriculture methods to respect nature and stay as close to it as possible. They have adopted a less interventionist approach in the cellar, allowing the wines to reach their full potential and reveal each terroir's best expressions and characteristics.
They use natural indigenous yeasts. Aging takes place in oak barrels. The percentage of new oak varies from 15-20% for the Village appellations and 30-40% for the Premiers Crus and Grands Crus. The whites usually spend 12 months in oak, and the reds up to 18 months. Light fining and filtration before bottling.
Domaine Fontaine-Gagnard is still "under the radar," so it produces delicate yet complex, refined, classic-style Burgundian wines at very reasonable prices, while making only a tiny amount. For example, this Batard-Montrachet comes from only 0.3 hectares of vines on this Grand Cru vineyard's 11.24-hectare surface.
Fontaine-Gagnard Batard-Montrachet 2020
As mentioned above, wine is a living being! It evolves with time and storage conditions. Compared to two years ago, this wine has opened up nicely (maybe it was also too young to drink back then). It still shows a youthful pale yellow color, and the nose remains light, fresh, elegant, mineral, zesty, and citrusy, but the palate, which was slightly restrained at first back then, is now fleshier and more layered. It combines a fresh, dry, mineral texture with good density and balance, enhanced by bright lemony flavors, sharp acidity, and lightly toasted, oaky nuances. Overall, a charming and refreshing wine, though a bit light on my palate for a Batard-Montrachet. Once again, and despite being fleshier, I would have loved more substance and depth. But this is just a question of taste. And who knows, it might benefit from a few more years in the cellar.
Domaine Perrot-Minot Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru "La Richemone" Vignes Centenaires Cuvée Ultra 2018
"La Richemone" is another classic in my book. Although only 2551 bottles were produced for that specific cuvée, I managed to buy and secure a few cases 4 years ago and have been serving it sporadically at various private dinners since. And I now feel kind of sad because I only had one left after this one, and I served it recently. Oh well, "All good things come to an end!", as we say. And it might be time to discover a newer vintage of this great wine.
Christophe Perrot-Minot took over from his father in 1993, then acquired Domaine Pernin Rossin in 2000, expanding the Domaine to 13 hectares, stretching from Nuits-St-Georges to Gevrey-Chambertin.
Run by Christophe Perrot-Minot and his wife, Marit Lindal Perrot-Minot, they produce a wide array of wines from various appellations at all levels: village, Premiers Crus and Grands Crus. The bottles labeled "Domaine Perrot-Minot" are all crafted at the Domaine, while the other ones, simply labeled as "Perrot-Minot", come from a careful selection of plots they oversee, harvest, and/or buy grapes from, but do not own.
"La Richemone" Cuvée Ultra Vignes Centenaires is from the eponymous Nuits-Saint-Georges Premier Cru vineyard in Burgundy's Côte de Nuits, France. Crafted from 100% Pinot Noir grapes from the southernmost part of the "La Richemone" plot, planted in 1902 (century-old vines), hence its designation "Vignes Centenaires". As such, it is considered a cult wine due to its scarcity.
These old vines are planted in a unique mix of deep-rooted gravel (ideal for drainage) and clay-limestone soils, yielding a balance of rich concentration, spice, and freshness. The wine is fermented with native yeasts and aged in French oak barrels (around 20–25% new oak, the remainder in 1-year-old barrels) for 16-18 months, with careful whole-cluster inclusion for aromatic lift. It often begins on heavy lees, then moves to fine lees, which add concentration and complexity. The wine is then aged without racking, fining, or filtration before being bottled by gravity.
Domaine Perrot-Minot Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru "La Richemone" Vignes Centenaires Cuvée Ultra 2018
To my palate, this wine is a beautiful example of classic Burgundian elegance and refinement. As soon as you pop the cork, discreet yet enticing aromas of dark griottes (wild cherries), blackberry, blueberry, violet, graphite, and exotic spices waft from the bottle. The palate is fresh, crisp, delicate, and elegant, yet complex and layered, supported by silky, fine tannins and a mineral-driven finish. It is like a ballerina, beautiful and graceful, almost fragile, yet precise and focused, with a lean, elongated, and defined muscular build. Love it!
That's all for today, folks! As always, thanks for reading my posts, and stay tuned for more.
Cheers! Santé!
Dom
@ledomduvin, #ledomduvin, @domperignonofficial, #domperignon, @celinefontainegagnard, #fontainegagnard, @domaineperrotminot, #perrotminot, #wine, #burgundy, #champagne, #larichemone, #domperignonp2, #batardmontrachet, Champagne, Burgundy, Vin
Unless stated otherwise, all rights reserved ©LeDomduVin 2026, on all the contents above including, but not limited to, photos, pictures, drawings, illustrations, collages, visuals, logos, maps, memes, posts, texts, writings, quotes, notes, tasting notes, descriptions, wine descriptions, definitions, recipes, graphs, tables, lyrics and even music and video (when and where applicable).
.png)
.png)
