Dom Pérignon announced the unveiling of its highly anticipated vintage, Dom Pérignon Vintage 2013, over an intimate gastronomy experience at one of Kuala Lumpur’s most exclusive dining destinations, DC by Darren Chin. In celebration of this momentous occasion, the newly appointed DP Society Chef, Chef Darren Chin, paired the prestigious champagne with his renowned culinary creations, in an experience that tantalised the senses.
In a year marked by alternating extremes, Dom Pérignon Vintage 2013 reconnects with a glorious legacy of late-harvest vintages. This exception, coming in the middle of two decades of early harvests, interrupted only by the 2004 vintage, spotlights one of the fundamental aspects of the creative act at Dom Pérignon, namely taking the maturation time into account in the quest for harmony.
The vision of the Chef de Cave and his expert skill in integrating the specific elements of each year, led him to imagine and anticipate the effects the work of time would have. And now, after some ten years of maturation on the lees, the experience of Dom Pérignon Vintage 2013 reveals the limpid and evident lines of a harmony sculpted by time: the elegance of clarity.
Dom Pérignon’s creative ambition is a perpetual quest for captivating harmony, a quest pursued with aesthetic and sensory values: precision, intensity, tactile sensation, minerality, complexity, completeness, and a distinctive way of sustaining notes. Every creative process faces constraints. For Dom Pérignon this always means a vintage wine – an unyielding commitment to bear witness to the harvest of a single year, whatever the challenges, even going as far as not declaring a vintage.
The creation of the 2013 vintage reveals the resonance between the pinot noirs and chardonnays, between acidity and full-bodied. The precise, elegant, and tactile bouquet blooms in an extremely delicate powdery aromatic braid around three nuances: first citrus, then a more vegetal facet and lastly, spices. This precision reveals a simple and evident elegance where the wine, after an ethereal attack, amplifies and blossoms before ceding to an ineffable sensation of clarity.
A Late Vintage
At the outset of 2013, the vineyards were subjected to a cold, wet winter, followed by an especially rainy spring, with vines being two weeks behind from the beginning of their life cycle making up for this delay. The buds appeared late, and the vines did not bloom until the end of July, interfering with the formation of grape clusters.
These long months marked by an excess of water were followed by one of the hottest and driest summers over the last two decades, once again impeding the metabolism of the vines. September subsequently brought more heavy rainfall, followed by easterly winds that miraculously kept the grapes healthy until they were picked. The harvest began at the end of the month and lasted until the middle of October, when tasting the grapes revealed a promising balance between a good full-bodied taste thanks to the summery weather, and an acidity typical of late-harvest vintages.
Precise Pinot Noirs and Splendid Chardonnays
The impact of two expanses of excessive rainfall with a period of drought in between varied according to the specific terroir. Most of the vineyards benefit from chalky soils, which act as a buffer for the water, and Dom Pérignon’s grands crus and premiers crus vineyards were spared. The chardonnays from the Côte des Blancs thus revealed their full splendour, expressing the pure elegance that characterizes this grape. More restrained, the pinot noirs from the Montagne de Reims have a precise acidity and a distinct firmness that contribute to gentle authority.
Assemble and Anticipate the Effect of Time
Vintage 2013 highlights the dual dimension of Dom Pérignon’s creative efforts. The first is assembling the complementary and opposing aspects of 2013, namely full-bodied and acidity. Here, the creative element lies in revealing their resonance, establishing a dialogue that elevates the balance of the different flavours. Sculpting these contrasts is what precisely constructs the perspective of the 2013 assemblage.
At the same time, this assemblage is based on a second and equally important facet of creativity: its profoundly projective dimension. Like a sculptor or diamond cutter who perceives the driving force in a block of marble or a rough gemstone, after first perhaps envisioning the future statue or piece of jewellery, the creator of Dom Pérignon anticipates the work of maturation and assesses the effect of the time ahead on the harmonisation of the assemblage. The result is an assemblage that, with nearly ten years of maturation, brings us the essence of 2013: the elegance, the delicacy, and the absolute classicism of this new Vintage Dom Pérignon.
Time is part of the Dom Pérignon equation. The time for active maturation on the lees in the darkness of the cellars, allows each vintage to reveal itself. For Dom Pérignon Vintage 2013, this slow metamorphosis required nearly ten years.
A Celebration with Chef Darren Chin
As part of the unveiling event, a select group of guests had the opportunity to experience the Dom Pérignon Vintage 2013 in its full glory, alongside the creative force of DC Restaurant, Chef Darren Chin’s, expertly crafted dishes. The pairing menu was designed to showcase the five unique facets of the champagne – intensity, tactile, complexity, minerality, and precision, whilst also highlighting the nuances of each dish.
The Dom Pérignon Vintage 2013 will be released to the Malaysian market in May 2023.