TN: 1978 Dom Perignon

1978 Dom Perignon
Sometimes you just have to say fuck it and open something nice. Saturday night dinner with the best sushi that Murata, one of the best Japanese restaurants in Portland, could muster for takeout seemed as good a time as any.

To my consternation, the bottle started hissing the moment I began to untwist the cage as the cork had shriveled up over the decades. Happily those fears that the bottle might be tired or over the hill were unfounded.

There were no bubbles visible, but the wine was a nice burnished gold with a fine, persistent petillance to create a welcome creaminess to the texture.

The wine presented delicious smells of cocoa, toffee and cream to start, unfurling a true peacock’s tail to reveal multitudes - floral, citrus, plum, toast, mushroom, soy, even a slight coppery tang. It was round, seductive and utterly gourmand, compelling you to drink more and uncover more facets of itself.

With air and a little warmth, the initial presentation shifted away from the cocoa and toffee and the wine did, of all things, a great impression of a mature Climens, with a vibrant apricot note that resonated and lingered, and palate depth to make many top tier Sauternes envious.

Through it all, the wine showed great persistence and substance, showing no signs of faltering over the couple of hours we had it open. There was not the slightest hint of unwelcome oxidation - no apples, thank goodness. My husband is normally a slow drinker and we often will leave a glass or two for the next day, but not this time - this time we drained the bottle with uncharacteristic haste (& greediness).

I have heard tell of the greatness of DP in the '60s and '70s, but had never experienced it for myself, with 1985 being the oldest year so far that I had experienced from DP. Though I may have been skeptical that bottles this old could be good, this bottle made an eloquent case for the glories of very aged DP, and very aged Champagne in general - it certainly made a believer out of me. Though that 1985 showed well when I had it, this 1978 was on a whole other plane of existence.

Some of you may have noticed Krug pushing this whole music pairing concept, which I have thus far treated with a sort of bemused incomprehension, but last night it was a real experience to drink this on the couch while listening to the Stones playing ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want’ live. This will forever be the ‘correct’ pairing for me. What a privilege.

Excellent minus, and wine of the year for me.

Wow, what an awesome post! If we had such a thing as TN of the year around here, this would definitley be a front-runner for me. Makes me want to pop an aged Dom and throw on some Stones right now!

*Side note…I feel like the Stones make everything a little better

Awesome note.

sounds like you got what you wanted that night. Great note.

Hauntingly great note.

sick! glad it showed

Thanks for sharing; sounds like a magical bottle!

Try ‘75, ‘69 and ‘64… if you can find them… they will blow your mind.

Great note-thanks! You need to say f*ck it more often!

Yes, great note/story–wonderful when these old bottles work out; as we know, they don’t always.

Thank you all! Special thanks to Brian, who sold me the bottle

Thank you for the recs; will keep an eye out

Also '66. That was a great Champagne vintage. I brought a bottle back from France in 1983 (purchased at Fauchon for about US$30) and drank it in 1984. The single best bottle of Champagne I’ve ever drunk. I don’t think Fauchon had ever marked up these wines. A friend went back in 1984 and the price had been bumped to $200.

Sounds fantastic, Yao!

Yao,

Your emotion and pleasure clearly shows in your post.

Glad you enjoyed your bottle as much as you did.

A few posters have given some other vintage suggestions, but imo any vintage from the '60’s or prior is starting to get long in the tooth unless in Mag, perfectly stored or late disgorged. This is coming from somebody who loves aged Champagne.

I would suggest you try to find a well stored bottle of '73 DP. For me, and for most of friends in my aged Champagne drinking circle, it is clearly the best DP from the '70’s. Was also voted the best Champagne at a 1970’s Champagne dinner I hosted in December which included experienced as well as neophyte mature Champagne drinkers.

I’m guessing you aren’t counting late disgorgements; had any 69 p3 lately?

No need to guess, says right there.

Ah yeah.

Just teasing you.

Thank you for the recommendation!

Re: late disgorged (Oenotheque/P2/P3) bottles, are they worth seeking out? Would you say they are capable of achieving the same highs as the original disgorgements?

Not a chance.