2015 Champagne Dom Pérignon, Brut

Full bottle 1,621 g.

Pale honey colour and some notes of green leafiness. Still very tight and tense, as though it still has to relax and breathe out. Hints of orange peel but less of the rich citrus creaminess that so often characterises Dom Pérignon than usual. This seems a little longer than the bottle tasted last month. 

Drink 2024 - 2036

2015 is unusually giving and luscious at this early stage, full of apricot pastry, bittersweet orange citrus and bitter almond, brightened by some pithy herbal characters that signal the year’s singular growing season yet also leaning deliciously into toasted bread, honey-nut and a little umami savour from lees ageing. It plays a deep, fruit-saturated and slightly grippy angle on Dom Pérignon’s often svelte style, less reductive than usual and much more immediate than the previous release 2013). This is a vintage perfectly placed for relatively youthful drinking, although Dom Pérignon’s record will mean this is likely to have a rewarding decade ahead.

Drink 2024 - 2038

Disgorged in January 2023, the 2015 Dom Pérignon shows a singular, ethereal profile with aromas of white pepper, iodine, ripe orchard fruits, toast, smoke, herbs and spices. Medium to full-bodied, layered, and structured, it’s enveloping and round with a delicate phenolic mid-palate that underlines chalky dry extracts, concluding with a sapid, penetrating finish with gastronomic bitterness.

This iteration of Dom Pérignon, though replete with the customary charm and vinous generosity that typify the label, distinguishes itself by its structural delicate austerity and a notably phenolic profile, giving rise to a remarkably linear and well-defined style that diverges markedly from the more familiar expressions of Dom Pérignon. This is a blend of 51% Pinot Noir and 49% Chardonnay with a dosage of 4.5 grams per liter; it will age wonderfully and can be enjoyed now or over the next 20 years.

Drink 2024 - 2054

The 2015 Dom Pérignon is terrific. Bright and poised, the 2015 shows terrific energy. Citrus peel, white flowers, mint, white pepper and slate all race across the palate. There's gorgeous tension and backbone here, with bright saline notes that extend the mid-palate and finish. This is a fine showing in a vintage that has proven to be tricky. I am intrigued to see how the 2015 develops in the coming years.

Drink 2025 - 2045

The 2015 Dom Pérignon pours a bright straw/yellow colour and is expressive and layered on the nose with a tropical profile in its notes of cantaloupe, peach, fresh pastry, smokey wet stones, and orange blossoms. Medium to full-bodied, it offers a rounded and ripe but very well-detailed feel, with a soft, chalky texture. This was a very successful vintage for Dom Pérignon, producing wines that retain a great deal of clarity and detail in this warm vintage.

Drink 2024 - 2045

This is a super-complex Champagne with chewy tension. Aromas of coffee beans, lemon peel, burnt sugar, chalky minerality, barley candy, and tarte tatin. Fine pinprick bubbles with flavours of lemon leaves, aspirin, Mirabelle plums, and a touch of bitterness from the grapefruit keep the tension. Zesty yet integrated chewy acidity and a medium body with a toasted finish.

Drink of hold