Dom Pérignon 2006 from a ripe, generous year, presented in the Luminous bottle with a shield label that lights up. The wine inside is the regular 2006 vintage; only the dress is different.
About This Champagne
2006 was an uneven but broadly warm, dry year. A scorching July gave way to a cool, damp August, and warm September weather then pushed the grapes to unusual ripeness. Picking started on 11 September and lasted almost four weeks. Chardonnay leads the blend by a small margin. Richard Geoffroy placed 2006 with 2002 among his generous, ripe years, and it was the fifth Dom Pérignon vintage released in a row, a first for the house. The Luminous label is lit from within, switched on at the base of the bottle.
Tasting Profile
- Nose: Pineapple, peach and tangerine over candied fruit, dry hay and toast, with a faint note of liquorice.
- Palate: Round and succulent at the core, silky rather than creamy, with ripe tropical fruit kept in check by fresh acidity.
- Finish: Long, with a pleasant touch of bitterness and a briny, sea-air edge.
Serving & Food
Chill to around 9°C and pour into a wide tulip or a white-wine glass rather than a narrow flute, so the ripe fruit has room. It is drinking well now and should hold to around 2030. Try it with lobster in butter sauce, crisp-skinned roast chicken or a wedge of aged Comté.
How to Enjoy
Evening celebrations and gifts where the bottle is part of the moment, with a ripe, fruit-led Dom Pérignon inside.
Product Details
Producer: Dom Pérignon
Origin: Champagne, France
Style: Vintage Champagne
Vintage: 2006
Grape Variety: Chardonnay and Pinot Noir
Presentation: Luminous bottle
Volume: 750ml
About the Maison
The Dom Pérignon style owes most to René Philipponnat, cellar master from 1949 to 1976. He set down the principles the house still follows: a single vintage, a defined core of vineyards, a balance of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, and long ageing on the yeast. He built that core from the ripest plots in eight grand cru villages plus Hautvillers, which gave the wine its familiar richness.
Philipponnat also steered big technical shifts, moving production out of wooden casks into vats, adding temperature control and bringing in malolactic fermentation. Three cellar masters have followed him.