98pts James Suckling

A driven and serious DP with aromas of chalk, biscuits, apricot stones and lemons. Some spice and dried flowers, too. So sleek and sophisticated. Elegant. Yet, it’s long and powerful, with a sharp minerality. Tight and precise.

96pts Wine Spectator

Vivid acidity and a chalky underpinning make a crystalline frame for finely detailed notes of ripe melon, mandarin orange, toasted brioche and candied ginger in this harmonious Champagne, which is expressive and expansive on the palate, but with a sense of finesse and restraint. Long and creamy on the mineral-laced finish. Drink now through 2037.

96pts Jasper Morris

Yet another scintillating wine from Dom Perignon. A youthful but complex bouquet: flowery notes of acacia honey emerge from a base of yellow plum. On the palate, the attack is dry and intense; succulent yellow fruit drenched in walnut oil builds on the mid palate. Superb balance! Long, zesty acidity returns to the finish refreshing the palate. Already very approachable with its generous fruit and sapid mouthfeel.

95pts Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

Disgorged in October last year, the 2013 Dom Pérignon is a lovely wine, defined by the long, cool growing season. Offering up aromas of crisp stone fruit, tangerine oil, buttered toast, pear, almonds and clear honey, it's medium to full-bodied, ample and seamless, with bright acids and a pillowy, enveloping profile, concluding with a long, saline finish. Vincent Chaperon recalls that shatter at fruit set moderated yields and that a drying east wind in the weeks before harvest helped to maintain the good sanitation necessary to wait to pick at full maturity.

95pts Decanter

Silky, narrowly sculpted and serene, Dom Pérignon 2013 is a less hedonistic release than the 2012 (and less intensely energetic than the 2008), but showcases a beautiful mid-place between tension and expressiveness already. Orange-coloured fruit – apricots, mango and orange – play along with snappy lemon syrup and delicate red fruits, the palate teased into considerable detail and length with some trademark Dom Pérignon smokiness. There is immediate pleasure here, although cellaring will let some of the inner complexity unfurl, revealing this to the among the finest Dom Pérignon releases of recent times. 51% Pinot Noir, 49% Chardonnay.

Vintage Notes

The 2013 winemaking year proved a welcome reconnection with the glorious past of late harvest vintages. After a cold, wet winter, spring was gray, quite cool and extremely rainy.
The vines began budding about two weeks later than the average for the decade, a delay that lasted all the way until the harvest. The hot and dry summer was the sunniest on record in the Champagne region, proving particularly beneficial for the quality of the grapes.
Rain in early September quickly ceded to easterly winds that kept the grapes healthy until they were picked. The harvest at Dom Pérignon begins on September 28. Tasting this vintage revealed a promising balance between acidic and full-bodied. 

Winemaker Notes

Dom Pierre Pérignon was appointed "cellarer", or administrator, of the Abbaye d’Hautvillers in 1668. For the next 47 years he dedicated himself to creating "the best wine in the world. " Dom Pérignon’s creative ambition is a constant quest for harmony as a source of emotion.

The nose is full and varied, mingling flowers with fruit, then vegetal with mineral. The bouquet is tactile, subtly enticing us along a trail of powdery white flowers and nectarous apricot, followed by the freshness of rhubarb and mint, and the minerality of ash. White pepper.

Energy dominates on the palate. After a welcoming open the wine quickly becomes vibrant and then literally explodes with a surge of effervescence and a tonic sensation. Focused by acidic and bitter notes, the finish brings a penetrating tautness, marked by ginger, tobacco and toastiness.

A year full of paradoxes for winemaking, 2012 gave birth to a great vintage, surmounting multiple challenges. Nature proved unpredictable and implacable as a series of climate events descended upon the vineyards: frost in the winter and spring, torrential rains, hailstorms, and cold spells while the vines were flowering, plus intense heat waves over the summer. A warm and dry climate alleviated any concerns as to the health of grapes, favoring the maturation of the fruit. The beginning of the harvest stretched from September 10 to 26, depending on the parcels. Tasting the grapes revealed tremendous promise, with a balance between freshness and generosity.