Dom Pérignon

Dom Pérignon is a Champagne Brand owned by Moët & Chandon. Benedictine monk Dom Pierre Pérignon is credited with its invention; according to legend, Dom Pierre Pérignon, during a pilgrimage to the abbey of Saint-Hilaire discovered the method of vinification of sparkling wines from Limoux. He returned to his Saint-Pierre d'Hautvillers abbey and experimented with the method on the wines of the Champagne vineyard. He even taught his technique to the Benedictine scholar Thierry Ruinart who came to visit him in 1669. At the time, the bottles were corked with wooden dowels lined with tow soaked in oil. In search of a cleaner and more aesthetic process, Dom Pérignon would have had the idea of pouring beeswax in the neck of the bottles, thus ensuring them a perfect hermeticity but after a few weeks most of the bottles would have exploded, unable to withstand the pressure. In fact, the sugar contained in the wax, falling into the bottle, caused a second fermentation, transforming malic acid into more carbonic lactic acid. The Dom Pérignon brand name was first registered by Eugène Mercier, the founder of Mercier Champagne. He subsequently sold the brand to the Moët & Chandon Champagne house, who used the Dom Pérignon name for its prestige cuvée, first released in 1937.

Each vintage of Dom Pérignon is unique, with grapes sourced from only the best vineyards in Champagne. Unlike most Champagne producers who harvest the grapes early, the preference established under former cellarmaster Richard Geoffroy was to wait for the grapes to ripen slowly. The highly-respected Geoffroy was chef de cave from 1990 to January 2019, when he handed over the reins to his assistant, Vincent Chaperon.