DOM PERIGNON
Dom Pérignon (1639-1715) was a Bénédictin monk born in France.
Dom Perignon, known for his brilliant mind, was Prosecutor and
Administrator of the Cellars of the abbey of Hautvilliers near Reims for 47
years.
At that period, Reims was the town of the sacrament of the kings of France and
the wine produced here was famous for mass celebration.
Dom Pérignon was a wine expert. May be because he was blind, he was endowed with
an outstanding sense of smell and palate. He was able to recognize which grapes
came from which vineyards. He had the brilliant idea to assemble the wines
between them in such a way that qualities of the ones are added to those of the
others.
Dom Pérignon knew of the particular characteristic of the white wine of Aÿ, the
wine of Champagne. It became effervescent with a second, short-lived
fermentation. It still contained some yeasts which remained dormant in cold
weather. Under the influence of the warmth of spring, when the sap begins to
work in the vine, the yeasts wake and proliferate. Dom Pérignon sought to induce
this second, accidental fermentation of the wine of Champagne at a given time,
regulate it and keep its effervescence in the wine.
Having understood that the pressure was due to the carbon dioxide, he decided to
use bottle made of thicker glass and better corks secure with a wire.
When he died at the beginning of the XVIII century, Champagne wines were
favorite at the King's court. Louis XVI and especially Madame de Pompadour would
love the Champagne as we know it today. In recent times, Moet et Chandon, the company
who bought the Hautvillers' monastery in 1794 , gave the name of Dom Perignon to
their very best cuvée.
Top Dom Perignon Champagne vintages produced
1980, 1982, 1985, 1990, 1996