DOM PERIGNON - Vintage 2013 - With box
Dom Pérignon is a Champagne brand owned by Moët & Chandon. The 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 vinification method for the sparkling wines of Limoux. He returned to his abbey of Saint-Pierre d'Hautvillers and experimented with the method on wines from the Champagne vineyards. He even learned his technique from 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 into the neck of the bottles, thus ensuring them a perfect airtightness, but after a few weeks most 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 the malic acid into more carbonic lactic acid. The Dom Pérignon brand was first registered by Eugène Mercier, founder of Mercier Champagne. He then sold the brand to the champagne house Moët & Chandon, which used the name Dom Pérignon for its prestige cuvée, first launched in 1937.
Each vintage of Dom Pérignon is unique, with grapes coming only from the best vineyards in Champagne. Unlike most Champagne producers who harvest the grapes early, the preference established under former cellar master Richard Geoffroy was to wait for the grapes to ripen slowly. The highly respected Geoffroy was cellar master from 1990 until January 2019, when he handed over the reins to his assistant, Vincent Chaperon .
Varietal(s): Not disclosed