2008 Champagne Dom Pérignon, Rosé, Brut

The 2008 Dom Pérignon Rosé is magnificent. Rich and deep in the glass, the 2008 offers up an exotic mélange of aromas and flavours. Sweet red cherry, mint, orange peel and rose petal all grace this beguiling beauty. Bright acids and a little less still red Pinot 21%) than in most recent editions yields a Rosé that is delicate and light on its feet, with less of the vinous intensity that marked vintages such as 2006. There is a classic feeling of austerity in the 2018 that is mesmerizing.

Drink 2026 - 2048

The 2008 Champagne Rosé is another elegant expression, offering notes of cardamom, strawberry, and dried flowers. The palate is dry and well-structured and is balanced and long on the finish, with notes of dried orange peel, redcurrant, and fantastic salinity. It has a great application at the table and should continue to improve over the next 15-20 years.

Drink 2022 - 2042

This is a super Champagne with roses, strawberries and orange peel on the nose but then it's medium-bodied with a raciness and beauty.

Drink or hold

Spring and summer were generally cool and overcast but the year was rescued by a beautiful September, but was it enough? Harvest began on 15 September. Red wines came from Champs de Linotte in Hautvillers close to the seat of Dom P) and Vauzelles in Aÿ.

First bottle: Pale to mid salmon pink much deeper than a typical Provence rosé). There's some note that's mineral or iodine or oyster shell on the nose of this. Then we segue into something floral – rose petals? even candied rose petals. This doesn't have quite the substance and undertow of the 2012 and 2003 P2 reviewed alongside. Perhaps it will develop it, but this bottle seems a bit simple. I will open a backup sample to check it out and ensure this is not a cork effect. There doesn't seem to be any TCA on the nose but there is a slight shortage of fruit and no great follow-through on the palate.

Second bottle: This bottle has more fruit on the palate but it still doesn't have real zest and tension. And it rather falls away on the finish. Mind you 2008 was a very grey, cloudy year.

Drink 2022 - 2027

The newly released 2008 Dom Pérignon Rosé is a dramatic, perfumed wine, bursting with aromas of blood orange, iodine, sweet citrus fruit, peach and pear mingled with hints of buttered toast, smoke and spices. Full-bodied, textural and enveloping, with terrific concentration, racy acids and a pillowy mousse, it concludes with a long, penetrating finish. It derives its intense hue from red wine produced from Pinot Noir grown in lieux-dits Chants de Linottes in Hautvillers and Vauzelles in Aÿ.

Drink 2022 - 2042

Offering up aromas of white flowers, red berries, toast and fresh pastry, Dom Pérignon rosé 2008 is medium to full-bodied, tense and vibrant, with a vinous texture and sapid nuances. Delicately phenolic, this is a pure and racy gastronomic champagne that’s beginning to drink with style. It concludes with a long and penetrating finish.

Drink 2021 - 2035