Will the 1999 Dom Perignon suffer from heat damage?
- Yes
- No
- Brett Favre
0 voters
My homage to the GOAT (greatest of all threads) by Mark B (Drinkxie) The 16-bottle Chardonnay Blowout Challenge If you have not read this thread then stop now and click on the link, it’ll be the best 15 minutes of your WB life.
The Question: Will this bottle of Champagne be good or bad. Has heat damage destroyed the wine? I will post a tasting note with the results.
The Background: I acquired a bottle of 1999 Dom Perignon on release that I stored in my cellar for the last 13 years, more on that later, as a birth year wine for my god daughter Carly who was born on Thanksgiving Day November 24, 1999. The plan is to open this bottle on her 21st birthday.
The Cellar: Below is a picture of my cellar. It looks much like a coat closet because it is a coat closet that I highjacked from my wife.
The Condition: This where it gets interesting.
- 13 years in the closet
- No temperature control in the cellar just room temperature year around
- I live in Southern California
- We don’t use the air conditioner or heater - maybe 5 times a year. Crazy, I know
- The Champagne spends at least 6 hours a day for 4 months above 80 degrees
- Not uncommon for the room temp to be 85 degrees for a month in August
- Daily bottle temperature swings average 15 degrees
This is a graph of the average temperature in Mission Viejo, California.
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The Results
Clearly - wine is significantly more stable than most people believe and the threat of heat damage is vastly overstated. So the time someone’s cellar cooler craps out and the wine spends a few days at 75 degrees refer them to this thread where a bottle of Dom spent more than 120 days a year at 75+ for 13 years
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1999 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon - France, Champagne (11/27/2020)
Medium gold color. Very fine bubbles and an exquisite mouth feel - prickly yet soft - very interesting. Reminds me of Krug in that perspective.
Aromas of light caramel, medium plus toast, almond slivers, and apple sauce. Palate is very good, a very strong yellow apple flavor with bracing acidity. With all the acid is thought I would pick up lemon or green apple, nope, just the yellow. The creamy caramel note emerges mid palate and remains through the finish.
Beautiful bottle of champagne opened for Carly’s 21st birthday with Kim, Chris, Rosie and Taylor.
Posted from CellarTracker