Dom Pérignon
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Dom Pérignon (; ) is a brand of vintage
Champagne Champagne (, ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, that demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, ...
. It is named after Dom Pérignon, a
Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...
monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedic ...
who was an important quality pioneer for Champagne wine but who, contrary to popular myths, did not discover the
Champagne method Sparkling wine production is the method of winemaking used to produce sparkling wine. The oldest known production of sparkling wine took place in 1531 with the ''ancestral method''. Pressure and terminology In popular parlance and also in the ...
for making
sparkling wine Sparkling wine is a wine with significant levels of carbon dioxide in it, making it fizzy. While the phrase commonly refers to champagne, European Union countries legally reserve that term for products exclusively produced in the Champagne regi ...
s.D. & P. Kladstrup ''Champagne'', p. 38 Harper Collins Publisher,


History

Dom Pérignon (1638–1715) was a
monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedic ...
and cellar master at the
Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...
abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The c ...
in
Hautvillers Hautvillers is a commune in the Marne department in north-eastern France. The Abbey of St. Peter which existed here until the French Revolution was the home of the famous Dom Perignon, a Benedictine monk whose work in wine-making helped to deve ...
. He pioneered a number of winemaking techniques around 1670—being the first to blend grapes in such a way as to improve the quality of wines, balance one element with another in order to make a better whole, and deal with a number of their imperfections; perfecting the art of producing clear white wines from black grapes by clever manipulation of the presses; enhancing the tendency of Champagne wines to retain their natural sugar in order to naturally induce secondary fermentation in the spring; being a master at deciding when to bottle these wines in order to capture the bubble. He also introduced corks (instead of wood), which were fastened to bottles with
hemp Hemp, or industrial hemp, is a botanical class of '' Cannabis sativa'' cultivars grown specifically for industrial or medicinal use. It can be used to make a wide range of products. Along with bamboo, hemp is among the fastest growing plants ...
string soaked in oil in order to keep the wines fresh and sparkling, and used thicker glass in order to strengthen the bottles (which were prone to explode at that time).Sutcliffe, Serena, "A Celebration of Champagne", pp. 13–14, Mitchell Beazley 1988, The development of sparkling wines as the main style of production in Champagne occurred progressively in the 19th century, more than a century after Dom Pérignon's death. The first vintage of Dom Pérignon was 1921 and was only released for sale in 1936, sailing to
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
in the liner ''Normandie''.Sutcliffe, Serena, "A Celebration of Champagne", p. 130, Mitchell Beazley 1988, The brand, not exploited, was given by Champagne Mercier to Moët in 1927 for a wedding between the two families. In 1935, 300 bottles of a 1926-vintage precursor to Dom Pérignon were sold to Simon Bros. & Co., the company that imported Moët in the United Kingdom, who gave two bottles to each of their 150 best customers to commemorate their centenary. While these bottles were almost identical to the subsequent Dom Pérignon releases, they did not display the Dom Pérignon name, rather "Champagne specially shipped for Simon Brothers & Co's Centenary 1835—1935." The wine got immediate attention in the marketplace and 100 boxes of the 1921 vintage were shipped to the United States shortly thereafter, this time displaying the Dom Pérignon name. James Buchanan Duke, the billionaire who had founded the
American Tobacco Company The American Tobacco Company was a tobacco company founded in 1890 by J. B. Duke through a merger between a number of U.S. tobacco manufacturers including Allen and Ginter and Goodwin & Company. The company was one of the original 12 members ...
, ordered 100 bottles for himself. The 17 bottles sold at an auction in
Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is owned by Groupe Artémi ...
in New York City in June 2004 were part of that order (
Doris Duke Doris Duke (November 22, 1912 – October 28, 1993) was an American billionaire tobacco heiress, philanthropist, art collector, horticulturalist, and socialite. She was often called "the richest girl in the world". Her great wealth, luxurious l ...
, the billionaire's daughter, had kept them in her cellar). According to current Dom Pérignon cellar master Richard Geoffroy (2012), who has been Chef de Cave for Dom Pérignon since 1990, the 1921 vintage had a "distinctive bouquet comprising
sandalwood Sandalwood is a class of woods from trees in the genus '' Santalum''. The woods are heavy, yellow, and fine-grained, and, unlike many other aromatic woods, they retain their fragrance for decades. Sandalwood oil is extracted from the woods for ...
,
vanilla Vanilla is a spice derived from orchids of the genus '' Vanilla'', primarily obtained from pods of the Mexican species, flat-leaved vanilla ('' V. planifolia''). Pollination is required to make the plants produce the fruit from whic ...
and praline". Until the 1943 vintage, Dom Pérignon was produced from regular vintage Moët & Chandon Champagne that was transferred to the special 18th century-style bottles after extended cellaring. It was, thus, effectively an ''"oenothèque"'' release of Moët & Chandon Vintage Champagne in a different bottle. From the 1947 vintage, Dom Pérignon has been produced separately from the start. In 1971, the Shah of Iran ordered several bottles of the first vintage of Dom Pérignon Rosé (1959) for the
2,500-year celebration of the Persian Empire The Celebration of the 2,500th Anniversary of the Founding of the Persian Empire ( Persian: جشن‌های دو هزار و پانصد ساله شاهنشاهی ایران) was a national event in Iran that consisted of an elaborate set of gra ...
. A bottle of that champagne, from that order, was sold at auction for €24,758 in 2008. In 1981, Dom Pérignon was chosen for the wedding of Lady Diana Spencer and
Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...
. The magnums of Dom Pérignon Vintage 1961 served on that July 29 carried a special insignia created just for the ceremony.


Vintages

Dom Pérignon is always a
vintage Vintage, in winemaking, is the process of picking grapes and creating the finished product—wine (see Harvest (wine)). A vintage wine is one made from grapes that were all, or primarily, grown and harvested in a single specified year. In certa ...
champagne, meaning that all grapes used to make the wine were harvested in the same year. The wine is not made in weak years, i.e. when the general quality of the harvest is considered to be too low. The earliest market release of a vintage is usually after 8-10 years for the standard champagne, with longer maturation times for special editions like the ''Second Plenitude'' or ''Œnotheque'' (see below). From 1921 to 2009, Dom Pérignon champagne has been produced in 43 vintages. More than two vintage years in a row is a rare phenomenon, which until 2006 had only occurred three times: 1969–1971, 1998–2000, and 2002–2006 (the first time five vintages were produced in a row). The 2008 vintage was the first released out of sequence, after the 2009 vintage. The 44 white Dom Pérignon vintages up to 2012 are 1921, 1926, 1928, 1929, 1934, 1943, 1947, 1949, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1966, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2012. Since 1959 a
rosé A rosé () is a type of wine that incorporates some of the color from the grape skins, but not enough to qualify it as a red wine. It may be the oldest known type of wine, as it is the most straightforward to make with the skin contact method ...
version of Dom Pérignon is also produced. Twenty-six Dom Pérignon Rosé vintages have been produced and released until 2022: 1959, 1962, 1964, 1966, 1969, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1986 (the first rosé vintage where the white version was not produced), 1988, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 (the second rosé vintage where the white version was not produced), 2006 and 2008.


Second plenitude (P2)

P2, meaning 'second plenitude'. Dom Pérignon choose the best grapes from any of the 17 Grands Crus, including the legendary Premier Cru, Hautvillers and it is released in three different maturation time periods called Plénitudes. After close to 15 years of slow transformation in the cellars, the taste is, according to Dom Perignon, "wider, deeper, longer, more intense - and gifted further with an extended longevity." It is the result of extra time of maturation and constantly monitored and tasted by the Chef de cave to determine the perfect time for disgorgement. The first Plénitude is the Dom Perignon released after 8-9 years of lees ageing. The second Plénitude is released after 15 to 20 years lees ageing. P3 is released after considerably more lees ageing and in very small quantities.


Limited editions

Dom Pérignon has over the years collaborated with different artists, profiles and designers to create limited editions of the bottles design. Some of the limited editions are:


Style

Dom Pérignon is always an assemblage of
Pinot noir Pinot Noir () is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French words for ''pine'' and ''black.'' The word ''pine ...
and
Chardonnay Chardonnay (, , ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand. For new ...
grapes, although the final composition changes every vintage: at times a blend in perfectly equal proportions (e.g. 1990 Rosé), at times up to 60% Chardonnay (1982) or 60% Pinot noir (1969), and only once going over 60% (with 65% Chardonnay in 1970). According to Richard Geoffroy's Manifesto and blog: "Dom Pérignon expresses its first plénitude after seven years in the cellar", with a second plénitude 12 to 15 years after the vintage (first Œnothèque release, now referred to as P2) and a third plénitude after 30 to 40 years (second Œnothèque release, now referred to as P3). Around 2016, the producer stopped using the Œnothèque designation and started labeling new plénitude releases as P2 or P3, providing more clarity to the disgorgement date than the Œnothèque designation. The grapes entering the blend come from the best, most sunlit sites. Serena Sutcliffe comments: "With age, Dom Pérignon takes on a totally seductive fresh-toast-and-coffee bouquet, one of the most intriguing scents in Champagne."


Current production

The number of bottles produced in each vintage is not precisely defined, although it is at least 5 million bottles.Stevenson, Tom, ''Decanter'' (December 2007) "The Best A Man Can Get", p.65 As of September 2022, the current release of Dom Pérignon is from the 2012 vintage and the current release of Dom Pérignon Rosé is from the 2008 vintage.


Auction market

Dom Pérignon is often traded at wine auctions, where it is frequently termed "DP". A wave of auction price records started in 2004, with the sale of the Doris Duke collection at Christie's in New York City. Three bottles of Dom Pérignon 1921 sold for US$24,675. In 2008, two sales held by Acker, Merral & Condit also left their mark on the history of Dom Pérignon, with three magnums of Dom Pérignon Œnothèque (1966, 1973 and 1976) selling for US$93,260 in Hong Kong, and a lot of two bottles of the legendary Dom Pérignon Rosé Vintage 1959 selling for US$84,700 in New York. Only 306 bottles of the 1959 Rosé Vintage were produced, and they were never sold. In 1971, it was served in Persepolis at the lavish festivities celebrating the 2500th anniversary of the founding of the Persian Empire by Cyrus the Great. On April 17, 2010, a new record was set for a sale of wine in Britain according to ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...
''. A buyer would have spent more than £35,000 for
Methuselah Methuselah () ( he, מְתוּשֶׁלַח ''Məṯūšélaḥ'', in pausa ''Məṯūšālaḥ'', "His death shall send" or "Man of the javelin" or "Death of Sword"; gr, Μαθουσάλας ''Mathousalas'') was a biblical patriarch and a f ...
(6 litre) 1996 Dom Perignon Champagne Rose (Rose Gold). This transaction took place at the Westbury Hotel at a party that followed the screening of the new film,
Boogie Woogie Boogie-woogie is a genre of blues music that became popular during the late 1920s, developed in African-American communities since 1870s.Paul, Elliot, ''That Crazy American Music'' (1957), Chapter 10, p. 229. It was eventually extended from pi ...
. A vertical of Dom Pérignon Rosé Œnothèque, a world premiere release from the reserve cellar of Dom Pérignon, never commercially released before, was sold at a record price at a wine auction organized by
Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...
in Hong Kong in May 2010.sothebys.co
Sotheby's auction page
/ref> The 30 bottle lot of Dom Pérignon Œnothèque Rosé bottles and magnums from 1966, 1978, 1982, 1985, 1988, and 1990 achieved HK$1,331,000 (US$170,641), setting the world auction record for a single lot of champagne and is the first HK$1 million lot of wine Sotheby's has sold in Hong Kong.


Footnotes


References

* Stevenson, Tom. ''World Encyclopedia of Champagne and Sparkling Wine'' (Fully rev. and updated ed.). South San Francisco, California: The Wine Appreciation Guild, 2003. .


External links

*
Creating Dom Pérignon – Richard Geoffroy's blog
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