Magnums?

Hello and many thanks for taking the time to answer our questions.

I am wondering what drives you to bottle magnums in a given vintage. The reason I ask, of course, is that I did not see any 1996 magnum available on release and the word is that there are some but only in the Oenotheque version?
I fondly remember a magnum of 1990 Dom Perignon which really got me into Dom Perignon… Hence my (relative) disappointment not to be able to get some in a vintage I really liked.

Many thanks.

Cheers
Michael

Dear Michael,

I believe wine in general, and Dom Pérignon specifically, has a better aging potential in larger formats. Even though the wine from a standard bottle can be more expressive in the beginning, with time magnums or jeroboams will always show more precision and complexity, as well as better texture than bottles. If you plan on buying for the long run, I would definitely recommend purchasing larger formats. We usually produce them in every vintage, even though they are not necessarily released at the same time as standard bottles.

Best regards,
Richard