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Dom Perignon is a famous vintage champagne brand from Moët & Chandon. The drink was named after a Benedictine monk who devoted his life to researching the quality of sparkling wines. However, contrary to popular legend, the pious father did not invent the method of champagne, but only improved it.
Vintage (aka vintage) wine is made from berries harvested in one year.
History
Dom Perignon (1638-1715) – French monk and keeper of the monastery wine cellar, who significantly improved the technique of winemaking. His inventions include:
- cork for champagne with a wire muzzle bridle (earlier, the plug was cut out of ordinary wood);
- the technique of mixing different grape varieties to compensate for their shortcomings and emphasize their merits;
- a thicker glass champagne bottle so that the container bursts less often;
- white wine from dark grape varieties (the skin is removed from the berries and only then the juice is pressed).
The monk also achieved unsurpassed skill in bottling, accurately determining when wine should be poured and how much to store. However, during his lifetime, the achievements of the winemaker remained practically unappreciated, the boom in the development of sparkling wines occurred in the XNUMXth century – a hundred years after the death of the Benedictine.
Champagne Dom Perignon was immediately conceived as a prestigious product, the idea of its appearance belonged to the Englishman Lawrence Venn. The first portion contained a 1921 vintage. The new brand became available to customers only in 1936, although a year earlier the company sent 300 bottles of the new champagne to its partner Simon Bros. & Co, which, in turn, “awarded” bottles of Dom Perignon to the best customers.
The brand immediately attracted attention: exclusive champagne settled in the wine cellars of billionaires, lots from those first batches of the early XNUMXth century are still found at modern auctions. The aroma of the drink was dominated by notes of sandalwood, vanilla and praline.
Since 1943, Dom Perignon champagne has been produced in bottles stylized as the 1947th century. Since 1959, Moët & Chandon has completely separated the production of the drink from other products. In XNUMX, a pink version appeared (Dom Pérignon Rosé).
Now Dom Perignon is considered one of the most prestigious champagne brands, it was this sparkling wine that was served at the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana, it is also bought for expensive and exclusive celebrations. Prices per bottle start at 15000 rubles (as of December 2018).
Moët & Chandon
Moët & Chandon is a French producer of wine and luxury goods (the latter in partnership with LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE), one of the largest producers of champagne, and a significant player in the sparkling wine market. The company was founded in 1743 by wine merchant Claude Moët, today owns almost 1200 hectares of vineyards and produces 28 million bottles of champagne annually.
Laurence Venn was a talented British publicist based in the London office of Moët & Chandon. It was he who developed the concept of creating exceptional quality champagne. According to Lawrence’s idea, the wine was to be distributed by subscription among the British aristocracy – of course, at prices much higher than the average market. So Dom Perignon received the status of an elite champagne for the elite.
Vintages
Dom Pérignon is a vintage champagne, which means that it is always made from the harvest of one year, and only the best years are chosen for this. From 1921 to 2009 there were only 42 white wines and 24 rosés. Typically, the gap between releases is at least two years, two harvest years in a row – a rare luck that fell out only a few times in the history of the brand.
Characteristics of the House of Perignon
Dom Pérignon is always a combination of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, although the proportions are not fixed and may change from year to year. For example, the 1990 Rose used varietals in equal proportions, while the 1982 white variation had 60% Chardonnay, while in 1969 the ratio was reversed with Pinot Noir.
The production volume is not defined, but usually it is at least 2 million bottles. The wine is aged on the lees for at least 12 months, for the release of 2017 the vintage of 2009 was used. Fresh wine smells of hay, brioches, bergamot, white flowers. With aging, Dom Pérignon takes on notes of freshly toasted toast and coffee.
fullness
With this French term, translated as “fullness”, winemakers Moët & Chandon define the exposure of Dom Pérignon Champagne, which is measured not in years, but in “control points”.
The first “point” falls on 7 years of aging in the cellar, the second wine passes at the turn of 12-15 years, and the third – between 30 and 40 years of aging. On the bottle, “plenity” is indicated by the marking P1, P2 or P3, respectively.
How to drink champagne Dom Perignon
The producers themselves recommend serving the following gastronomic pairs with their champagne: fried artichokes, beef ravioli, peach salad, grilled potatoes, caviar.
However, each release of Dom Perignon is so unique and so different from previous variations that it is better to choose an appetizer for a wine of a particular year, general recommendations help little.