Wine Advisor
Dom Perignon, Brut Vintage 1996
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Lisa Perrotti-Brown
The nose gives intense toasty, biscuity notes with an underlying fruit character of warm strawberries, golden delicious apple slices, oyster shells and chalk dust. Very crisp, fine, youthful and fresh in the mouth, the finish provides layers of minerals, citrus fruits and a pleasant creaminess in texture and flavour.
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
The 1996 Dom Perignon shows all of the classic notes of this wine in an exuberant, big style. Smoke, spices and roasted nuts are some of the nuances that emerge from this classy and very complete Dom Perignon.
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
The 1996 Dom Perignon is superb. Layers of roasted nuts, spices, tar, smoke, acacia blossoms and a light touch of honey emerge from the glass, adding complexity to the fruit. This large-scaled Dom Perignon is currently in a beautiful place where early tertiary notes have begun to appear, yet the wine retains plenty of freshness. This is a terrific Dom Perignon that can be enjoyed today but that also promises much pleasure for the future. Anticipated maturity: 2009-2029.
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
Three 1996s from Dom Perignon are special. After having compared original releases and OEnotheque bottlings across a number of vintages going back to 1964, I am increasingly of the belief that the most enjoyable Dom Perignons are impeccably stored bottles of the original release. The 1996 Vintage is coming along quite nicely. Early notes of tertiary complexity have begun to appear, adding considerable richness and breadth. This remains a Champagne of fabulous elegance that will offer highly rewarding drinking for decades.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
The brilliant 1996 Dom Perignon, which has largely disappeared from the marketplace, may be the finest young example of DP I have ever tasted. Notes of crushed rocks, honeysuckle, lemon oil, orange marmalade, and white pear provide a stunning aromatic display as well as palate impression. Great acidity and huge flavor intensity backed up by vibrant acidity make this an exquisite Champagne. It should drink well for 20-25 years, possibly longer. Readers should remember that the 1971 Dom Perignon Rose is still drinking exquisitely. I recently had the 1969 and 1970 Dom Perignons (from magnum), and both were drinking brilliantly. It makes one realize just how long-lived these wines can be. Production is confidential, but there must be hundreds of thousands of cases of Dom Perignon since it available in most of the world’s luxury hotels and restaurants. Importer: Moet-Hennessy, USA, New York, NY; tel. (212) 251-8200.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
I have had a lot of great vintages of Dom Perignon, but I do not remember any as impressive as the 1996. Even richer than the brilliant 1990, the 1996 is still tightly wound, but reveals tremendous aromatic intensity, offering hints of bread dough, Wheat Thins, tropical fruits, and roasted hazelnuts. Medium to full-bodied, with crisp acidity buttressing the wines wealth of fruit and intensity, it comes across as extraordinarly zesty, well-delineated, and incredibly long on the palate. Moet-Chandon deserves considerable accolades for this prodigious example of Dom Perignon. Anticipated maturity: now-2020+
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
One of the more accessible wines of the year today, the 1996 Dom Pérignon impresses for its exceptional balance and class. Lemon peel, white flowers and mint are laced together in the glass. The 1996 is in a terrific place today where it can be enjoyed or cellared for a number of years.
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
Three 1996s from Dom Pérignon are special. After having compared original releases and Œnothèque bottlings across a number of vintages going back to 1964, I am increasingly of the belief that the most enjoyable Dom Pérignons are impeccably stored bottles of the original release. The 1996 Vintage is coming along quite nicely. Early notes of tertiary complexity have begun to appear, adding considerable richness and breadth. This remains a Champagne of fabulous elegance that will offer highly rewarding drinking for decades.
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
Then it was off to one of the most mind-boggling array of 1996 Champagnes I have ever seen. Imagine being able to liberally sample all of that vintage’s top wines at once. As I have recently tasted and reviewed many of the wines recently in my retrospective of the 1996 Champagnes, I won’t comment on each wine here, except to say that so many bottles seem to be growing with each passing year. The head of the class among the 1996s remains Krug’s Clos du Mesnil. I was equally impressed with all three Dom Pérignons and both Cristals.
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
Both 1996 Dom Pérignons are gorgeous and have the potential to continue to develop beautifully for many years. The 1996 Dom Pérignon shows all of the classic notes of this wine in an exuberant, big style. Smoke, spices and roasted nuts are some of the nuances that emerge from this classy and very complete Dom Pérignon.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
Very pale color. Wonderfully complex, musky aromas of minerals, ginger, lemon, earth, mushroom, smoke and brioche; with aeration, this showed sweaty saline and chicken broth notes that reminded me of Le Montrachet, as well as a captivating topnote of fresh rose petal. Fat, ripe and mouthfilling without being at all heavy. Loaded with flavor and long and delicious on the aftertaste. In the same quality league as the superb '95, but does it have the grip of that wine? I should note that some other tasters report having bottles more in the backward, structured style of this vintage.
About the Producer
Dom Pérignon has always stuck to its founder's vision: always excellent yet always improving. Each vintage is made through delicate assemblage and adjustment, resulting in the mysterious blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes. It isn’t specifically what Dom Perignon created in his forty seven years as the cellar master at the Abbey of Hautvillers, it is the innovations and enhancements that he discovered. At this time in history, sparkling was thought of as faulty wine and was quite dangerous as refermenting in bottle caused explosions. Dom Perignon resolved to sparkling wine tastier and safer. He pioneered the mixing of base wines from specific vineyards to enhance the style. So he hand-picked the fruit to ferment by blind tasting the grapes to assess them strictly on their flavour and the way they might style once blended with alternative grapes he had access too. This was a serious departure from the quality wine creating techniques of the day. He additionally pioneered the pressing of red grapes and straightaway fermenting the juice to create white wines from red grapes. With regards to safety, he introduced the utilization of thicker glass bottles able to withstand the pressures of sparkling wines and used Spanish corks rather than wood to seal the bottles. These corks were traditionally tied to the bottlenecks with Hemp string, a forerunner of today's wire metal cages. Many celebrities enjoy success with Dom Pérignon. In 1995, rapper Little Shawn, protégé of Diddy at that time, dedicated a whole song to the champagne brand. The music video also featured a cameo appearance of late rap star Notorious B.I.G. drinking Dom Pérignon. To put it short: A bottle of 'Dom P' stands for success!
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