I have had a lot of great vintages of Dom Perignon, but I do not remember any as impressive as the 1996. Even richer than the brilliant 1990, the 1996 is still tightly wound, but reveals tremendous aromatic intensity, offering hints of bread dough, Wheat Thins, tropical fruits, and roasted hazelnuts. Medium to full-bodied, with crisp acidity buttressing the wines wealth of fruit and intensity, it comes across as extraordinarly zesty, well-delineated, and incredibly long on the palate. Moet-Chandon deserves considerable accolades for this prodigious example of Dom Perignon. Anticipated maturity: now-2020+ -Wine Advocate To taste Dom Perignon is to discover the unique spirit and style of a truly great wine of Champagne. Every stage of vineyard selection, winemaking and slow cellar aging is, in itself, a quest for perfection. Cuvee Dom Perignon is made only in exceptional vintage years from two grape varieties from the Champagne region, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The grapes are picked from the very best crus among the oldest and best exposed sites of the region. On the nose, this wine opens with notes of red-fleshed peaches, rapidly evolving into cashew nuts and dried herbs. The aromatic experience finishes on a note of lightly toasted brioche. On the palate, it offers a host of well-orchestrated, precise and full-bodied tastes. The initial density becomes creamy, while the long finish ends on a note of glazed citrus fruit. The unique Dom Perignon style: a rich creamy mousse, fine bubbles, a spirited, crisp opening leading into a broad palette of aromas and tastes, the delicacy of substance itself. Each Cuvee Dom Perignon is cellar-aged for 6 to 8 years.

Bright, amber-tinged pink with pinpoint bubbles. Deep, smoky and complex, with a kaleidoscopic bouquet incorporating wild strawberry, peach, apricot, chestnut honey and cured meat. A firm, strikingly concentrated midweight with powerful flavors of orange peel, raspberry, redcurrant, baking spice and smoked meat and gentle supporting acidity. Smoky, sweet and long on the back, with a slowly building impression of acidity that suggests this will be a long ager. As usual, a stunning Champagne. Also ...

Hewing to the Dom Perignon style of light, elegant and fruity, this gorgeous wine combines the austere yet bright fruit of the best Champagnes with creamy, slightly toasty yeast notes and hints of cherries in its engaging aromas, and it follows on the palate with an appropriately active mousse of smallish bubbles. It is a bit drier and crisper than its mates, owing in part to a touch of finishing astringency that is not uncommon in the genre of pink bubblies, but it shows quite handsomely with li...

Moet and Chandon Dom Perignon Rose 1996. Light dry cherries on the nose, with smoke, toast and just a hint of earth. Rose petals and Pinot fruit lead the charge on a pinpoint mousse. A beam of steel runs through the whole thing lending it dignity and structure. An intricate and powerfully delicate champagne.

Rating for France-Champagne: 91 (slightly better than average year)<br/><br/>Drinkability: too young, let it sit<br/>

the champagne of the night. mature, balanced and egoistic. very confident and solid.