First taste: Dom Pérignon’s new P2 2008 released with artistic flair

Dom Pérignon has released the highly anticipated P2 – or Plénitude 2 – edition of Dom Pérignon 2008.

The launch event in London in May was littered with a star-studded list of artistic collaborations, including actress Tilda Swinton, musicians Anderson .Paak and Iggy Pop, dancer Alexander Ekman, visual artist Takashi Murakami and chef Clare Smyth.

Away from the glitz, though, the wine itself stands as tall as any Dom Pérignon release of recent times.

Scroll down for Dom Pérignon P2 2008 tasted and rated

A true vineyard wine

Amid the glamour of the brand, it’s easy to lose track of Dom Pérignon’s grounding as a true vineyard estate, rather than as a wine assembled, as is the norm in the region, from a range of fruit both owned and purchased.

While technically difficult to define due to its incorporation into Moët Henessey’s considerable vineyard holding in Champagne, the core of the Dom Pérignon estate is around 300ha of grand and premier cru vineyards, which forms the basis for almost all Dom Pérignon releases.

This represents a grape-to-glass operation of mind-bending detail and scope, which today benefits from parent company LVMH’s considerable investments into soil health and sustainable viticulture.

It is also a brand which is not, as some might assume, defined by volume.

Chaperon says that in the extremely difficult 2017 vintage, Dom Pérignon was made in much, much smaller quantities than usual. Whereas in 2014 none was made at all, as the vintage didn’t meet the team’s quality expectations (despite being widely produced elsewhere in Champagne).

Chaperon took the reigns at Dom Pérignon after the release of the 2008 vintage made under Richard Geoffroy.

He successfully continues Geoffroy’s role as technician, artist and at times philosopher, presenting at the launch a series of figurative drawings made during the blending process for the 2024 vintage to represent the wines of various crus.

After all, the blend is the art here, given the vast number of possibilities imaginable each vintage from such a range of base wines.

The aim is what Chaperon calls ‘emotion through harmony’.

Grey skies of Champagne

Geoffroy’s blend for the 2008, equal parts Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, always seemed destined for a Plénitude release thanks to its pristine structure and drive, where a Dom Pérignon vintage is aged for an extended period on lees under a cork, rather than crown cap seal.

This means around seven years extra ageing for a P2, or around 15 years extra for the rare P3 releases.

The 2008 growing season was marked, in Chaperon’s words, by ‘the typical grey’ of Champagne skies. It was rather cool, cloudy and late maturing, yet finished with a perfectly timed period of dry, sunny weather which brought in ‘luminous and precise’ grapes.

The year’s sometimes forcibly high acidity is still markedly present in many wines today, although the best have stayed beautifully integrated.

P2 sees the textural plushness and reductive energy of lees ageing – bringing a bright, charry, toasted-nut richness – meet the vivid 2008 fruit in perfect harmony.

Is it better than the original release? Not necessarily. A side by side tasting would highlight the richer, caramelised tones that the original is developing on cork versus the superbly fresh, creamy decadence of the P2. Both, though, are unmissable.

Dom Pérignon P2 2008 tasted and rated

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