Interesting change at Dom Perignon. Regular Dom is sufficiently great for my taste, but I suppose those who have the desire and deep pockets can buy an Oeno equivalent every vintage now: P2: A New, Even More Luxurious Dom Perignon Champagne
Cheers,
Bill
sooo they just renamed oeno to p2. weird
I couldn’t tell if “every vintage will eventually reach a second and third plentitude” means that they’ll be making Dom (and therefore, P2) in every single vintage, which would definitely be a change beyond just marketing. Or, does this mean they’re making P2 in every vintage they choose to make Dom, which in that case would merely be a rebranding?
the later. But typically oeno isn’t every time they release a vintage, looks like P2 will be every single time they declare a vintage they’ll release a p2.
So what’s the difference between Oeno and P2 and P3? Isn’t Oeno already aged and disgorged at a much later date than the initial vintage release? And even within Oeno, aren’t there different disgorgement dates? This sounds very much like a marketing strategy.
No more oeno just p2
Got it. Thanks. Essentially, what it seems like they are doing is splitting up Oeno into P2 and P3 . . . with P3 being marked up almost 3X. Makes sense in a way. . . why sell Oenos at a lower price point when they believe the P3s can achieve higher margins.
Drink too much, and like everyone else, I’ll P2.
Weren’t there sometimes multiple Oeno releases of some vintages, timed for what Richard Geoffroy calls the different plenitudes? If they were all labeled as Oenos, it might make them difficult to distinguish. Theoretically, the new system could make it easier to track the different late releases of the same vintage – P2, P3, etc.
But the name / branding sucks. Oenotheque felt sophisticated and elegant. P2 not so much. But I feel almost embarrassed saying that. What ought to matter is the wine.
It also may force me to give up on my Dom initialisms - DP, DPO, DPR, DPRO. 
Edit: Just wondering. Is this Antonio Galloni’s fault somehow? Continuing to push for more transparency in champagne labeling?
I’m not sure why DP is doing this. They should have left well enough alone; I find the name change to be a head-scratcher. Since they started the Oeno program in the early 2000s every single new release has become part of it; 1990-1998 at this point in time. Every DP wine since at least 1959 has been released as an Oeno. They have long stated that their goal was to have every wine go through the Oeno program and that they were holding wines back specifically for this. Price-wise, the “P3” Oenos have always started at around triple “P2” pricing which would be $1,000 for a young P3 and $333 for a young P2. About all this accomplishes is that people won’t have to ask if an Oeno release is a second or third plentitude in DPs eyes. Not that it really matters, but with any release from the early 1980-1985, you could make a case for it being either. Now you will know what DP thinks, but then again, I think they will just call any older release a P3 regardless of where it truly fits on the development curve.
Also, this has nothing to do with transparency and adds no new information. DP’s Oeno program has listed disgorgement dates from the start and even pre-Oeno (in the 90s) they differentiated between late and original releases on the back label.
Someone in marketing must have been bored so they invented something to do and stay busy.
Remember, LVMH doesn’t sell wine or spirits, they sell dreams…
PS: the whole thing immediately made me think of the movie Drum Line where being a P3 was a drag so you challenged a P2 for his / her place in the band.
I’m a big fan of how this was a “TOP SECRET” project ![[snort.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/b/bdc3944606213c4dca6c1169cf0a166c8bc4f8c9.gif "snort.gif"){kind=small}
I bet producing more library wines and increase the initial release price, just like Bordeaux FGs model.
P2 is/was a very obscure Italian Masonic lodge… So guess someone in marketing at LVMH did not do their homework… 
Kevin,
The thing is that they have been doing the library build up for quite a while. They started saving a bit more than normal in the 85 vintage, turned it up again in 1990, a little more in the mid 90s, and really ratcheted up the library starting in the 2000s. Prices on the Oenos went up a lot starting around 2004-2005 and have continued to increase. They also have tried to slowly move up the price of the initial release. Not long ago, $100 DP wasn’t that hard to find (98-99 vintages). Now $125 is more the norm. There is absolutely nothing new about this except the name.
Brad, thanks for your insight. . . but didn’t the article say that P3 will eventually be released at a price point north of $1,000? As of now, I don’t see Oenos priced that high. I think the whole P2 & P3 project is so they can “justify” the higher priced champagne in P3. Dom Oenos were doing fine, but they saw a way to split it into P2 and P3 - and generate higher margins. The way I see it, P2 is your Oeno at an earlier disgorgement date while the P3 is your Oeno at a way later disgorgement date. Is that a fair way to summarize it? Thoughts?
Thanks.
J,
Right now the “P3” releases are things like the 70, 75, and 76. These are all north of $1000. The 82 when released will fall into this category as well. The 96 and 98 would be current “P2” releases and will be priced around $300-$350. Where things get tricky is in special releases of things like the 85, 88, 90 etc… These are more like “P2 1/2” releases and will likely be released under a limited namesake like the current Commande Speciale (which is used for non-routine Oenos and the current “P3” releases). This would jack them up to probably somewhere in the $600-$1000 range.
I should have bought more of the early Oneos and Late Disgorged releases from Dom in the early 2000s when they topped out at $350 for the 1959!
Brad, the 82 is already released. I have some bottles in my cellar, together with 1971. All purchased directly from LVMH at the beginning of this year.
Johannes,
Every vintage going back to 1959 (and some before) is available in the Oeno series. I was referring to the more regular releases which come out on a wide scale and as part of a regular launch. I don’t believe the 82 was ever a regular release.
just a scam to charge more, n’est-ce pas?