LeDomduVin: Back on track after a 6-month hiatus 

Looking at my blog, I realized that I have not posted anything since last April, and now that it is October, that is a lot of months and, more particularly, a lot of wines I need to catch up on.

So, let us start with this post, and do not be surprised if I post a lot after this one in the coming days and weeks; these are just some 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 achieve some balance at the risk of having unbalanced wines with weird acidity, ripe fruit, and high alcohol with 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 harvest in Champagne 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 their complex and layered, slightly heavier style, but they remain refined and elegant, which is not the case for 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 a flexible, open mind, as wine is a living being: it evolves with time and 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 and perception of a wine, but it is also important to see not only the flaws but also the qualities of the wine, 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

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Domaine Perrot-Minot Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru "La Richemone" Vignes Centenaires Cuvée Ultra 2018

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Cheers! Santé!

Dom

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