To claim that the 2003 vintage came as a challenge would be an understatement! In a year of extremes and superlatives, the very unusual climate (which is imprinted into the collective memory of the Champenois) lead to a small and early harvest. The nature of the vintage, in tension with the character of Dom Pérignon, created a duality, the exuberance and austerity playing off each other. The vintage contributed expectations of a rich and solar wine, while the Dom Pérignon signature provided an intense, fresh and firm character. I was tasting several great bottles of 1947 with Francois Audouze recently at the Château de Saran, and I noted how daring the persons who shaped these wines had been at the time, never refusing the challenge of such a solar year but rather embracing it, thereby creating a tribute to the singularity of the vintage. I am grateful to have taken the same opportunity with the 2003 vintage, which I feel is resolutely in line with its elders of 1947, 1959 and 1976.
Vintage 2003 was the perfect occasion to prove our ultimate commitment to the vintage, and to our philosophy of risk-taking, and wine critics and writers have acknowledged that. I wanted to share the moment of declaration of the vintage with this audience.
Today, wine experts worldwide are invited to premiere Dom Pérignon Vintage 2003. Screens connecting Paris, London, New York, Hong Kong and Tokyo will allow our guests to taste at the same time, while I will be hosting the event from Paris. A specific Twitter hashtag (#dpdeclares) is used for this occasion. You are most welcome to follow the conversation, on Twitter @r_geoffroy and reading the first reactions on www.2003.domperignon.com.
The 2003 Dom Pérignon has already received numerous accolades: Bruce Sanderson (The Wine Spectator) lauded its “impressive core of fruit and structure” as well as its “finish that retained elegance, freshness, finesse and complexity”; Antonio Galloni (The Wine Advocate) declared it “one of the most thoughtprovoking Champagnes I have tasted in a long time”; Richard Juhlin simply named it his Champagne of the vintage and noted its long aging potential.
Dom Pérignon Vintage 2003 will be available in three weeks. I look forward to traveling the world and sharing this great vintage.
