For Dom Pérignon, 2008 marked a significant turning point for its Champagnes.
It was the year when the two-part renovation of the red wine winery was completed as well as the culmination of learning from a period of experimentation with different tools and techniques from 2000 to 2005.
Scroll down to see the tasting note and score for Dom Pérignon Rosé 2008
‘It’s not even an evolution, but a revolution between 2000 and today,’ said Dom Pérignon chef de cave Vincent Chaperon. ‘We changed a lot of things: the selection of plots, the way we are cultivating the vines, how we’re pushing the maturity of the grapes.’
The final blend of the latest rosé vintage, which contains 55% Pinot Noir and 45% Chardonnay, features 10% Pinot Noir red wine, which is low compared to previous years.
‘2008 is a new era; after all this work in the vineyard and winery, we have a lower percentage of red wine than we used to put between 2000 and 2008,’ Chaperon said, adding that the 2005 vintage was at 27% and the 2006 at 21%.
Chaperon defines the 2008 as a ‘classic vintage.’ The weather wasn’t as hot as it had been the previous 15 years. In some of the warmer years in Aÿ, the wines can be too rich and heavy – the opposite of what is necessary for the blended rosé.
‘The climate this year gave us the condition to take advantage of a warm village like Aÿ and maintain a certain balance,’ Chaperon said.
In mid-September, the maturity of the grapes exceeded expectations, resembling vintages like 2000 and 2006 – as well as the exceptional 1966.
After five consecutive vintages from 2002 to 2006, the 2008 Pinot Noir grapes from the Champagne House’s dedicated plots in Hautvillers, Bouzy and Aÿ produced red wines with a good balance of freshness and acidity, as well as body and weight.
After 12 years in the cellar, the rosé started to ‘reveal the harmony we were looking for a year and a half ago,’ Chaperon explains. ‘I like the tension between the acidity, tannins, and the umami character; there was an interplay with these three dimensions, and it gives the wine a vibration and sensation of salinity.’
With the rosé, Chaperon said the team wanted to respect the Dom Pérignon profile, but also push it in the direction of more concentration. The result: a rosé Champagne with more strength and more power boosted by the structure of the Aÿ Pinot Noir.
The reveal of the 2008 rosé coincided with the opening of the Dom Pérignon and ADMO project, a 100-day tasting menu pop-up helmed by chefs Albert Adrià, Alain Ducasse, Romain Meder and Jessica Préalpato that debuted 9 November at Les Ombres, Musée du Quai Branly in Paris.
Dom Pérignon Rosé 2008 is released today, 1 December 2021, with a recommended retail price of £260/$350 per bottle.
The release also follows the launch of Krug 2008 in recent weeks.
See the tasting note and score for Dom Pérignon Rosé 2008
Tasting note by Yohan Castaing
