Shop Wine

wines

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.Robert Parker | 98 RPA distinctly reticent but elegant nose with a purity of expression that is truly impressive to experience as it's relatively high-toned and while the yeast comes up with air, it's relatively muted at present, combining with intense, precise and superbly detailed and complex flavors that culminate in an explosive and wonderfully long finish. This may very well rival the sublime '90 in time even if it's not quite as concentrated. This is still a baby so there is absolutely no rush whatsoever.Burghound | 97 BHThis minerally, toasty wine has flavors of almonds and white stone fruits, and a long, finish. It is still young, and is just coming into great balance. Elegant and ethereal.Wine Enthusiast | 96 WE(Dom Pérignon Brut (Moët et Chandon)) This is the original release of 1996 Dom Pérignon and I drank this bottle with friends only a few weeks before I left New York for my planned month on the road tasting in France in March. This bottle is not a whole lot further along its evolutionary path than the P2 reported on below, but still shows the excellent promise of the 1996 vintage. The bouquet offers up a complex blend of wizened apples, lemon peel, stony minerality, sourdough bread, just a hint of the sweet nuttiness to come and a gently smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied and rock solid at the core, with excellent focus and grip, lovely mousse, still quite brisk acids and a very long, nascently complex and beautifully balanced finish. (Drink between 2023-2065).John Gilman | 95 JGVery 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.Vinous Media | 94 VMThis features floral, candied citrus, pencil shaving and hazelnut aromas and flavors. It's fresh and focused, with a firm structure offset by a mouthfilling richness and a lacy texture. Not a blockbuster, but seamless and seductive in its approach. Drink now through 2010.Wine Spectator | 93 WSReal concentration, yet with better balance than many ’96s. A big wine, quite vinous, and in that sense not a typically fragrant Dom Pérignon of finesse. Not outstanding, but a very good wine surpassed by the subtlety of the ’98 P2. Drinking Window 2017 - 2020.Decanter | 91 DEC

I generally have a slight preference for Dauvissat’s Les Preuses, a preference I suspect Vincent Dauvissat shares, but the 2020 Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos, at least at this early stage, gets my nod as the king of the cellar—and the wine of the vintage. Wafting from the glass with aromas of citrus oil, fresh bread, oyster shell, white flowers and wet stones, it’s full-bodied, layered and textural, with huge concentration, racy acids and a long, resonant finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 98 RP(Chablis “les Clos”- Domaine Vincent Dauvissat) The 2020 les Clos from Monsieur Dauvissat is every bit as brilliant as the les Preuses. The nose soars from the glass in a blend of apple, pear, lime zest, a stunning base of flinty, chalky, wet stone minerality and oyster shell, vanillin oak and a topnote of fruit blossoms. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and shows off a gorgeous core of fruit, but the real beauty here is in the stunningly complex base of minerality, coupled with vibrant acids, impeccable focus and grip and a very, very long, dancing and seamlessly balanced finish. A stunning wine in the making. (Drink between 2032-2085)John Gilman | 98 JGThe 2020 Chablis Les Clos Grand Cru displays a little more depth and complexity than the Les Preuses. Touches of yellow plum, orange blossom, flint and light white tea scents percolate through with aeration. The palate is very intense on the entry and a bit richer than the Les Preuses. The harmonious, intense, well-defined finish lingers long in the mouth, leaving a spicy, peppery residue on the aftertaste. Excellent.Vinous Media | 95-97 VM(Domaine Vincent Dauvissat Chablis - Les Clos Grand Cru White) While not quite as elegant, the restrained nose is even more floral and a bit spicier as well with its array of anise, smoke, tea, oyster shell and iodine-scented aromas. There is more size, weight and power if not the same refinement to the more evidently mineral-driven big-bodied flavors that coat the palate on the driving, balanced and youthfully austere finish. This terrific effort is also a legitimate candidate for wine of the vintage honors. (Drink starting 2032)Burghound | 93-96 BH