‘Unique experience’: Richard Geoffroy in the Decanter tasting room, 2010

After a ‘mostly grey August’, September 2002 brought ‘an almost Californian warmth to the region’ Geoffroy said. Launched at the Leighton House museum in London, the former home and studio of Victorian artist Frederic Leighton, critics have described the 2002 variously as ‘airily subtle’ and with ‘plenty of underlying structure’.

The London launch was preceded by a launch in Istanbul, chosen by Geoffroy to give journalists ‘the unique experience of discovering both the city on the Bosphorus and the wine from Hautvilliers.’

Richard Brierley, head of fine wine at Vanquish wine merchants, described the 2002 as ‘Burgundian, constantly in tension like the mainspring of an ancient clock slowly unwinding itself to reveal the multi-layered depths.’

He also compared it to ‘the third album of a band you love: it’s going in a new direction or trying out a new style, and it takes a while to love it. This didn’t immediately jump out at me: it took a while for me to understand the constant tension and layers of the wine – but eventually I fell in love because I understood it.’

The 2002 follows the Rosé 2000, launched last year in a bottle designed by Twin Peaks director David Lynch, and the 1998. The 1996 was launched in 2006 in a collaboration with chef Heston Blumenthal at his Fat Duck restaurant in Bray.

The 2002, Geoffroy said, is the ‘dark jewel’ of Dom Perignon. ‘Rarely has a vintage been so anticipated. There is a great duality and tension to the wine,’ the Pinot Noir and Chardonnay being ‘complementary and opposite’, he told assembled journalists, wine merchants and critics at Leighton House earlier this week. ‘With [this wine] we reach for the stars. Let it sing and dance.’

The Rosé 2002, a blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, was aged for 10 years on the lees. It is available from Selfridges and other independents at around £340 per bottle.

Watch Decanter’s exclusive video interview with Richard Geoffroy talking about the 2002 Rose vintage at its official launch in London.