As chef de cave since 1990 he and his team taste every Chardonnay and Pinot Noir to determine the percentages of each to be used. "I tend to use roughly a 50% Chardonnay and 50% Pinot Noir blending guideline for Dom Pérignon, although some years it can be 60:40 or 40:60, depending on the needs of the vintage," he says. "There is quite a bit of pressure being responsible for this name," he adds.
On the nose, a poetic Geoffroy says of the Dom Pérignon Vintage 2006: "The immediate impression is of the mildness of the pure, airy, bright bouquet. A floral, fruity pastel tone then unfolds and quickly darkens into candied fruit, ripe hay and toasted notes, along with hints of licorice." On the palate, the wine’s opulence unfolds in your mouth. "The envelope slides and stretches, and the wine becomes more complex and edgy, silkier than it is creamy. The whole eventually melts into an exquisite bitterness tinged with the briny taste of the sea.”
À votre santé!
THE ART OF BLENDING
A vintage Champagne story
If your affair with Champers runs as deep as ours, you certainly won't be quaffing any old bubbly this season. Not that we need a special season for drinking, but summer certainly aligns itself with our favourite mood-enhancer and the lively bubbles so eager to escape those curvaceous bottles.
When it comes to the finer stuff, the site of an elegant flute of vintage Dom Pérignon most certainly lifts our spirits. In celebration of the Dom Pérignon Vintage 2006 and Dom Pérignon Rosé Vintage 2004 in South Africa recently, what better spot for a (re)introduction than the magnificent Ellerman House wine gallery in the hands of sommelier Manuel Cabello. A deeper understanding of the skill and fine art involved in the creation of these delicious bubbles, lifts the experience of each cuvée (or batch) to a whole new level.
Always a vintage wine, each cuvée is made from only the best grapes from a single year — the vintage — and is decided by their revered chef de cave or cellar master, Richard Geoffroy only in the most exceptional years.
Once this incredibly tough decision has been made — a bad year in his book equals no bubbly — grapes are hand-selected from the choicest vineyards in the region and Geoffroy begins his new creation. With grapes from only one year being used — no reserve wines are used in the creation — creating a vintage cuvée requires craftsmanship of the highest level. What's more, there is no recipe. Each bottle tells the story of the conditions that nature presented that year and of Geoffroy’s creativity and skill, expertly blending the base wines to create something that always remains faithful to the house style and tradition that spans centuries.
A tough act to follow while still asserting his own artistic style on wines such as the 2006 and 2004 releases. "Every vintage is unique so it is not just mastering techniques to create great Champagne. I have found creativity is one of a winemaker’s best tools," says Geoffroy.
As chef de cave since 1990 he and his team taste every Chardonnay and Pinot Noir to determine the percentages of each to be used. "I tend to use roughly a 50% Chardonnay and 50% Pinot Noir blending guideline for Dom Pérignon, although some years it can be 60:40 or 40:60, depending on the needs of the vintage," he says. "There is quite a bit of pressure being responsible for this name," he adds.
On the nose, a poetic Geoffroy says of the Dom Pérignon Vintage 2006: "The immediate impression is of the mildness of the pure, airy, bright bouquet. A floral, fruity pastel tone then unfolds and quickly darkens into candied fruit, ripe hay and toasted notes, along with hints of licorice." On the palate, the wine’s opulence unfolds in your mouth. "The envelope slides and stretches, and the wine becomes more complex and edgy, silkier than it is creamy. The whole eventually melts into an exquisite bitterness tinged with the briny taste of the sea.”
À votre santé!