Dom Perignon, the Champagne of Class and Status

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Dom Perignon is a made only from vintage grapes harvested in specific farms of Chardonnay and Pinot-Noir.

A prestige cuvée owned by Moët & Chandon Dom Perignon that most expensive champagne is part of the luxury conglomerate that owns Louis Vuitton. This vintage Champagne ages at least 7 years before release to ensure maximum deliciousness.

Dom Perignon is a vintage champagne produced by Moet & Chandon. This special brand is named after the Benedictine monk Dom Perignon, who contributed immensely to champagne making. Being a vintage champagne, it is prepared only in years where strong grapes are harvested. Grapes used to prepare this wine are harvested in the same year. It is made only in Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. This special champagne is produced in only 42 vintages until now.

Dom Perignon is more famous as a class and status symbol. This champagne is often traded at wine auctions, being available for the first time for sale in 1936. Owing to their limited availability, this brand of wine is always with a high price. So far, Vintage 1961 Dom Perignon was sold for the highest amount. In 1981, it was chosen as the official champagne for the wedding of Lady Diana and Prince Charles. They have a special insignia created for the wedding. 1961 is the year of birth of Lady Diana. Latter limited number of this champagne was made available for sale at $4,309 per bottle.

Dom Perignon releases each of its vintages three times. Once in around nine years, the next in 18 years and the final one in 25 years. This champagne is aged on lees, which provide them special complexity and richness. The bottles are labelled as P1, P2 and P3 for first, second and third releases respectively. Therefore, a Dom Perignon bottle will be at least 8 years old.

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Dom Perignon was the name of a 17^th century monk who contributed immensely to wine making techniques.

Dom Perignon, the Monk

Dom Perignon, the monk, lived from 1638 to 1715 at Benedictine abbey in Hautvillers. He is the pioneer many wine making techniques that improved the quality of wine. He is the inventor of Cork, before which, wood was used to plug wine bottles. Perignon is often mistaken as the inventor of modern champagne making. Although he made relevant contribution, the primary technique, preparation of sparkling wine, was developed more than a century after his death. Latter, the idea of rolling out a wine brand after Perignon’s name was proposed by Laurence Venn. It was produced as the first prestige cuvee champagne.

Where is Dom Perignon made?

Dom Perignon is made of vintage grapes harvested in specific location from outside Reims to Marne Valley. The grapes are collected from around 748 vineyards owned exclusively by Moet & Chandon. The company owns all the 17 vineyards in Champagne of France; Ay, Bouzy, Verzenay, Mailly, Chouilly, Cramant, Avize and Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, including Hautvillers.

Some famous blend of Dom Perignon

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Dom Perignon Rose was exclusive to the 2500 Year anniversary of Persia celebrated in Persepolis in 1971.

Dom Perignon Rose

Rose version of Dom Perignon is a special blend of this champagne. This blend uses only the grapes from Pinot Noir. In 2008, two bottles from the same lot was auctioned for around US$84,700 in New York. Only 306 bottles of Dom Perignon Rose from the 1959 vintage were produced. They were never sold, because it was used the Persian anniversary celebration in Persepolis. In 1971, this version was exclusively ordered by the Shah of Iran, Cyrus the Great, in the celebration of 2,500 year of Persian Empire. The champagne is also famous as Dom Perignon 1959.

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A lot of Dom Perignon Rose Enotheque was auctioned for US$170,641 in 2010.

Dom Perignon Rose Gold

The Rose Gold version of Dom Perignon is a 1996 vintage. A bottle of this champagne was auctioned at a whopping price of 35,000 British Pounds in April of 2010. The 6-liter bottle was sold at Westbury Hotel at a party that followed the screening of a movie.

Dom Perignon Rose Enotheque

The Rose Enotheque version was never released for commercial sale. In 2010, this special version created a new world record being auctioned at US$170,641. It was a world record for being one of the highest auction prices for a single lot of champagne. The Magnum bottles were from 1966, 1978, 1982, 1985, 1988 and 1990 vintage.

Nowadays all the big champagne houses have their own cuvées de prestige but Dom Pérignon remains for many the benchmark for great champagne. Much of that has to do with the raw material—the grapes—that go into making this vintage Champagne. This is the most expensive champagne in the world that is reputed to have selected the grapes that would be used to make his wine—that are grown in vineyards that have earned grand cru status.