2002 Dom Perignon P2

The 2003 Dom Pérignon P2 is rich and demonstrative, wafting from the glass with aromas of stone fruits, honeycomb and buttered toast that leave more space for the wine's generous fruit tones than the more overtly yeasty original disgorgement. Full-bodied, broad and textural, it remains very youthful despite its below-average acidity, with notable precision to its ripe fruit tones and chalky structuring extract that provides, to some extent, a compensating sensation of freshness; it's actually evolving more slowly than its 2002 counterpart. Given the wine's richness, it works best with food. Chaperon relates that then-Chef de Caves Richard Geoffroy rejected any musts with a pH exceeding 3.3, the only time this metric has been used as a basis for selection for Dom Pérignon, and that the juice was allowed to oxidize before vinification. I'm looking forward to seeing the 2003 in its P3 incarnation, as I suspect that the wine will really come into its own when it develops more tertiary notes.

The 2002 Dom Pérignon P2 is showing very well indeed, wafting from the glass with aromas of crisp yellow orchard fruit, dried white flowers, orange oil, smoky peach, peat and praline. On the palate, it's full-bodied, broad and textural, with a ripe and muscular core of fruit, ripe acids and fine concentration, concluding with a long and elegantly toasty finish. As I wrote earlier this year, this is a ripe and powerful Dom Pérignon that finds its closest stylistic analogy in the 1990 vintage, and it is considerably less evolved than the more tertiary 2000 P2 today. While the P2 is a bit drier and more precise on the finish than the original release, given the wine's slow evolution, the difference between the two is less pronounced than it has been for any vintage since 1996. To my palate, it really needs four or five years in the cellar before it truly starts to blossom.

Fantastic complexity and subtlety with light bread dough, lemon rind, spiced pear, aniseed and licorice on the nose. Full-bodied. Dense and silky textured. Ultra-fine bubbles. Flavorful and smooth finish. Drink and enjoy this late release.