An annual Dom Perignon release is not guaranteed. The maison has been known to skip years if, for whatever reason, its harvest did not meet the celebrated label’s exacting standards. The announcement of a new vintage, therefore, is something of an occasion and is treated as such.
In Malaysia, Dom Perignon Vintage 2013 was marked by an exclusive dinner at DC Restaurant. Darren Chin has long been heralded as one of the country’s finest chefs, and that sentiment now has international validation thanks to his restaurant being awarded one of Malaysia’s first Michelin stars late last year. In another first for Chin, it was also announced that he is a newly minted DP Society Chef. This makes him part of a very exclusive network—only a few dozen chefs around the world can claim to have been invited to join.
The menu for the evening was that of Chin’s typically flawless French contemporary. Between buttery, flaky croissant and delectable dessert, each course was themed after a key characteristic of Dom Perignon: intensity, tactility, complexity, and precision.
Vintage 2013 was a product of a late harvest and one of the warmest, driest summers in recent memory. This followed a cold, wet winter, and an even wetter spring, resulting in the vines budding two weeks later than average. The autumn brought more rain, along with winds that kept the grapes healthy on the vine. The harvest concluded in mid-October, when the grapes had achieved a balance: acidity one usually finds from late harvests against the sweetness and full body arising from the fierce summer.
It has been a decade since that harvest, but Dom Perignon maturation is not to be rushed. Vintage 2013 is darker, less bright, and not as fruit-forward as Vintage 2012. The citrus of the nose is accompanied by a rich minerality. Robust and precise, it nevertheless remains as precise and elegant as one has come to expect from Dom Perignon.
