Dom Pérignon P2 2000, energy in time

16 years on the lees (dégorgement May 2016) and a dosage of 4.5g/l. This is Dom Pérignon P2, the Deuxième Plénitude of the Champagne signed by Richard Geoffroy for vintage 2000. 

Time is one of the key ingredients for those who produce Champagne. This is well-known to the chef des caves who must decide the blends for the different cuvée and then govern time as a variable capable of enriching the wine, or annihilating its vital essence. There is a great difference in results which over time can be obtained depending on the period that passes between before dégorgement or after the elimination of the lees from secondary fermentation in the bottle and the closing of the bottle with a cork. It is only at this moment that a Champagne begins its process of aging, whereas as long as the lees remain in the bottle before dégorgement they will play a role as an antitoxin and allow a champagne to mature gradually , enriching its complexity but at the time preserving its “youth”.

It is for this reason that Richard Geoffroy, the chef des cave at Maison Dom Pérignon, invested years in a project to add value to the different stages of maturity  in the Champagnes he created, keeping bottles in the cellar to wait for their “second phase of splendor”, which resulted in the Œnothèque  collection, which three years from the presentation of vintage 1998 has been renamed Plénitude Deuxième or P2. 

Dom Pérignon P2 2000 is the latest vintage that was just presented to the press during a preview in Italy. It is a Dom Pérignon 2000 that remained on the lees until May 2016  – as opposed to being disgorged in 2007 to be marketed as a vintage product – and rather than being preserved for a further eight years closed with a crown cap, it was closed with a classic cork and cage (the same choice was made for the P3, the Troisième Plénitude).

By sitting on the lees in the Maison’s cellar, this Champagne found an ally in time, one that was able to give it a second youth, richer and more multifaceted. For Richard Geoffroy time is “active energy”  and not linear, a progressive spiral that unfolds in three different stages of “metamorphosis”, three perfect moments that reveal what the Champagne truly is.

The first stage of fullness for Dom Pérignon champagne is that found in the Vintage wine, with a P1 of between seven and 10 years of sitting on the lees,  where each parcel and each grape come together in a pointillist portrait that depicts the landscape.

P2, on the other hand, is a second phase that takes place after around 15 years sitting on the lees , a period when Dom Pérignon does not age (thus no oxidation that would lead to a slow deterioration) but is enriched, nurtured by the energy of time. It is also for this reason that the Maison chose to use real corks to preserve the wine in the cellar for more than ten years, because (as shown by studies carried out in collaboration with CIVC)) this way the Champagne maintains a greater freshness, as evidenced by a comparison between P2 and Vintage of the same year.

Time once again proven itself to be a precious ally, one which someone like Richard Geoffroy can interpret its secrets.

Related Products