Dom Pérignon, Vintage, 2018
Dom Pérignon, Vintage, 2018
- 75cl
- 12.5%
- White Sparkling
- Chardonnay, Pinot Noir
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Optimal drinking window: 2027 - 2058
Est. delivery in February, 2027
Dom Pérignon needs no introduction, though it rewards a closer look. The 2018 vintage was shaped by a warm, generous summer followed by a long, slow ripening season that gave the wines an unusual combination of richness and precision. This is a Champagne built on Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from the Maison's own grand cru holdings, blended to a single vintage standard that has defined prestige cuvée Champagne since 1936. In 2018, the result is opulent without being heavy: ripe and creamy, but with enough chalky tension to keep everything honest.
We think this is one of the more immediately seductive Dom Périgons of recent memory. Drink it at a celebration, yes, but also with food. It can handle it.
What the critics say:
"Very floral aromas with jasmine, honeysuckle, lemons and subtle apples. Lavender as well. The medium-bodied palate has super-integrated bubbles, a touch of fine phenolics and a racy, lively finish. Weightless and refined for the vintage. The aftertaste includes ginger, dried apples, lychees, bitter lemons and minerals. 54% chardonnay and 46% pinot noir. Dosage 4.5 g/L. Mid-2026 release. A new style for Dom Perignon? Drink now."
"The 2018 Dom Pérignon is explosive, bright and so vibrant in the glass. Medium in body, with layers of understated depth, the 2018 dazzles from start to finish. Lemon peel, chalk, mint and white pepper all open with a bit of coaxing. Readers will find a Dom Pérignon of unreal precision and class."
Dom Pérignon draws primarily from grand cru villages in the Côte des Blancs and the Montagne de Reims, with Chardonnay from Cramant, Avize, and Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, and Pinot Noir from Aÿ and Bouzy. The chalk subsoils of Champagne are central to what makes these wines tick: they regulate water retention through the growing season, lending a mineral tension and fine acidity that anchors the richness of ripe vintages. In warm years like 2018, this chalky foundation is what keeps the wine from tipping into heaviness.
Champagne is the northernmost major wine region in France, and its appellation rules are among the most tightly defined in the world: only Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier can be used, and wines must undergo secondary fermentation in bottle. The region's 319 villages are classified from regional to grand cru, and only 17 villages carry grand cru status. What separates Champagne from all its sparkling imitators is the combination of chalk soils, cool climate, and centuries of blending expertise that produce a style of wine no other region has convincingly replicated.
The 2018 growing season in Champagne arrived like a gift after several challenging years. Spring brought warm, dry conditions that encouraged healthy flowering, followed by a summer that stayed remarkably consistent without the extreme heat spikes that can shut down photosynthesis. Rain arrived precisely when the vines needed it in late summer, plumping the grapes without diluting their flavour concentration. The harvest began in late August under sunny skies, with growers reporting some of the healthiest fruit they'd seen in years.
What emerged from this kindness was a vintage that marries immediate charm with serious structure. The Chardonnay shows beautiful purity and tension without the sometimes austere backbone of cooler years, while Pinot Noir developed lovely depth of colour and ripe red fruit character that speaks clearly through the bubbles. We find these wines drinking beautifully now, offering both the fresh exuberance that makes Champagne so joyful and the underlying complexity that will reward patience. Most 2018s will hit their stride over the next five to eight years, though the finest cuvées have the backbone to age gracefully well beyond that.
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