Champagne King
Dom Perignon – The King of Champagnes
Moet Chandon are the creators and producers of the world famous Dom Perignon. This is the cream of the crop in its field. It is, quite frankly, one of the best wines available to the consumer and has a price tag that reflects this.
The name Dom Perignon comes from a Benedictine monk who played a vital role in developing the quality of the champagne, but did not actually discover the champagne production method, contrary to popular belief.
Dom Perignon was first produced in 1921 however, it was not until 1936, fifteen years later, that it was released to the market. Because it is a vintage champagne it is only produced in the best growing years. There is no guarantee that will be produced every year and quite often there will be a number of years that pass before the grapes are of good enough quality to use for a production run. Because it is a vintage champagne, it is required that all grapes used in the production be from the same season.
Many champagnes, by contrast, are non-vintage, which means that the champagne is made from grapes harvested in various years and as such mixes grapes from good and not so good years. It is for this reason why Dom Perignon is a champagne held in such high regard.
On average about 5 million bottles of Dom Perignon are produced with each vintage. The champagne usually consists of 55% Chardonnay and 45% Pinot Noir. As of 2009, the current release of Dom Perignon is from the 2000 vintage and the current release of Dom Perignon Rose is from the 1998 vintage.
All vintages need around 12 months of aging before they reach that trademark silky feel and only continue to improve with age.
The current (2009) winemaker is Richard Geoffroy and has held that position since being appointed in 1998.
Being a world famous Champagne, Dom Perignon is distributed worldwide through Moet Chandon , from the local regions of France all the way down to Australia.
To find out more, visit our page on dom perignon prices.
Evelyn “Champagne” KIng – Love come down 1982
