Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts

I have 2 bottles of Champagne in my cellar, and maybe have a half dozen times a year where I could serve a bubbly but rarely do so. On my way home tonight my favorite retailer (Costco) had '02 Dom for $119.

So is it worth aging Champagne and what characteristics mark aged Champagne?
Does it shut down, or go through stages, or evolve much more slowly than.....red wine?
If I try and like it, should I buy a quantity like 6 to taste over time?

I don't know anything about the 2002 DP, but the '96 was one of the greatest wines I've ever had. I drank it at around 10 or 11 years of age and it was fantastic, maybe a little tight, but there is no way I would call it closed. Obviously, it will age for at least another 10 to 20 years, depending on how you like to drink your Champagne. If you like really old wines, the sky is the limit on a bottle like that. With 8 years of age on your 2002, and considering that it's maybe a slightly less profound vintage, I would open it tomorrow and post your notes asap - inquiring minds want to know

-Chasse

I'd say yes to all those questions. Even NV bottles are worth holding for a few years, if you enjoy the flavors that produces.

We should all drink more Champagne, all the time.

I had a really great sparkling wine from a Colorado grower who was doing a tasting of his still wines in Telluride last year. He had one unlabled, beer-capped bottle he sold me under the table for $20 (he'd brought a couple to taste as a lark I guess). I liked it so well at the tasting I snagged it from him. Drank the bottle a couple of months later with Chinese - coconut shrimp. It was very firm, almost hard, and very lemony but it was delish. 100 % Colorado chardonnay. Great pairing.

What Houond said.

Worth aging - yes for most Champagne, even the NV which seem best 3-5 years from release. The vintage and tete de cuvees can go much much longer in some cases.

Go through stages - yes. Evolve more slowly than reds - not sure about that. Champagne is much more sensitive to cellar conditions, though, so provenance is a major worry, sometimes even with "current" releases.

That is an excellent price for '02 Dom, which is probably the best one since the '96. Buy and try one now, and if you don't hate it go back for another 6. Try another in a couple of years and if you still don't love it, you have some very high-end gifts.

2002 is supposed to be good.
My champagne epiphany was with the 1995 vintage of Dom Perignon, following the Patriots Super Bowl victory over Carolina.

Dom seems to live for ever, like the best clarets.

Okay, okay, you've enabled me! I'll open the first one with the Giant's series victory....hopefully Lincecum is pitching....he's a local product that was a phenom at the University of Washington.

JimHow wrote:2002 is supposed to be good.
My champagne epiphany was with the 1995 vintage of Dom Perignon, following the Patriots Super Bowl victory over Carolina.

Cold Duck would've tasted good under those circumstances!

Dom is not always my favorite Champagne. I tend to like Krug, Salon, Bollinger Grande Annee, and Pol Roger Winston Churchill better. But Dom is pretty damn good, even if it is mass-produced. And in the good years it is worth buying, IMO. I haven't had the wine, but from what I've heard from others whose palates I trust, the '02 is a worth buying year. Best price I can find around here is $125.

From my experience, Dom could be wonderful, especially aged ones regardless V or NV. A long time ago (before the wine boom in late '90s) I went to a restaurant, which had its own wine cellar, with two highschool mates. We ordered an NV Dom White Star, which was the most fragrant champagne I have ever had up to date. I asked the waiter if he knew how long they had had it, but he didn't know and guessed it's from the late '80s or early '90s.

From my limited experience (up to 20 years old), aged Champagne could become bigger and denser, and start turning into a fine wine in its own category. It would be a treat if you happen to come across it. How far could it go, 30 years, 50 years or 100 years? I wonder that too.

Werner

Jon,

Champagne, especially, Dom Perignon, ages very well. In fact, for my taste, DP is the slowest one to come around (except the '96 and '02). There's no real dull phase like some red wines; the evolution is gradual but linear.

As a big generalization, the ones from good vintages such as 2002, peak at 15 - 20 years or even more. And the NVs also gain from 3 - 5 years of bottle age.

I made a separate post with some TNs of DP and DPO. The oenotheque is aged longer on the yeast, like Bollinger's RD.

That Cosco price is as good as you will find, so if you've tried it and like it, buy as many as you can.

Stuart

$109 in New Hampshire, I'm gonna pick up a couple bottles, maybe more when they go on sale.

$109 is an excellent price, Jim, and if holiday sales bring it down even further, definitely worth picking up a few. Or more.

They have 509 bottles in stock in New Hampshire.
I'm going to buy a six-bottle case.
If they have one of their 15%-off sales I'll alert you guys if you want me to pick some up.
I mean, after all, it is a HWSRN96 pointer.

Parker reviews Champagne? That 96 points was from Antonio Galloni. I haven't had enough experience with his TNs to know how well we align, but he had great things to say about '02 Dom to go along with all those points (TN dated March 2010):

The 2002 Dom Perignon is at first intensely floral, with perfumed jasmine that dominates the bouquet. With time in the glass the wine gains richness as the flavors turn decidedly riper and almost tropical. Ripe apricots, passion fruit and peaches emerge from this flashy, opulent Dom Perignon. The wine’s volume makes it approachable today, but readers in search of more complexity will want to cellar this for at least a few years to allow for some of the baby fat to drop off. Geoffroy describes the vintage as very ripe and adds that some of the Chardonnay showed the ill-effects of the hot growing season in it the somewhat burned, dehydrated fruit that came in that year. This bottle was disgorged in July, 2009. To be released summer 2010. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2032

Another 15% off of $109 might have me jumping in for more.

Many other champagnes I would buy before Dom. Ex. two bottles of 96 Henriot. A bottle of Krug MV. I always wonder, given the large production, just where are the grapes sourced??

Jim,

Have you checked with the store on the vintage? I keep seeing the 2000 in the stores. If they have the 2002, I would definitely go grab some.

Andy

Andy, I haven't been down there yet but here is my email exchange with the Portsmouth store.

I was thinking of getting down there on Wednesday.


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Jim,



We have the 2002 Vintage.



Ernestine



NHSLC, Store # 38

605 US Bypass 1

Portsmouth, NH 03801

(603) 436-4806

-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Howaniec [mailto:jimhowaniec@hotmail.com]
Sent: Saturday, November 06, 2010 5:22 PM
To: Store 38
Subject: 8622 Moet & Chandon Dom Perignon 750mL



Dear Portsmouth store:
The website says you have 22 bottles of this in stock but doesn't list the vintage.
Can you tell me which vintage this is?
Thank you,
Jim Howaniec

Cool. I'll have to check again. Maybe they still have it in the back room.

Thanks, '

Andy

Thanks for the notes, Stuart. I picked up a case to follow this over time.

Binny's had the 2002 Warhol box/label for $109, but sold out quickly, and now it's priced at $125 (Warhol, or regular label with 2 flutes).

A lot of positive TNs on CT for this, but not everyone is in love with it. Not my note, but one of the few negative comments:

02 DP - i tried, all night, i promise, to coax out the greatness that smarter people see - i warmed it, I changed glasses to a white wine glass, i drank it out of multiple bottles, but I still don't see it. my friend, the merchant, who has more experience, did mention that it had this great structure and he agreed that it was the best since the 1996. ok, i have bough it in size based on the great acclaim it gets, but I guess, for my palate, it still needs a lot of time.

Bad bottle? Not if you consider that he tried multiple bottles (all heat damaged?) or go by what the friend/merchant was quoted as saying above (financial interest there?).

Anyone here actually try it yet?

David - did you see Stuart's post?

http://www.bordeauxwineenthusiasts.com/ ... f=4&t=2314

Yup, I saw Stuart's positive note, and I've actually bought a few. Just wondering if any one else has had it. Like I need more enablement to get more...