This reverent old classic is still produced from vineyards owned by the Abbey of Hautvillers, home to the legendary figure of Dom Perignon. For those wishing to mark an occasion, sometimes only Dom Perignon will do!
Overcoming a year of unpredictable weather, Dom Pérignon's vineyards yielded exceptional grapes in 2012. From delicate, fresh chardonnays to firm and fruity pinot noir and elegant meunier, this is a wonderful vintage champagne that will age exceptionally well.
Intense flavours and contrasts have produced a multi-dimensional vintage, named ‘explosive harmony’ by the maison. Balancing complex acidity with a well-rounded maturity, the scintillating dialogue between two very different styles of grapes will challenge and seduce the taster.
Nature did her best to test the maison of Dom Pérignon in 2012, with frosts, floods and heatwaves descending on the vineyards in Champagne. Despite the challenges, the September harvest yielded a superb diversity and balance of grapes that enabled the winemakers to assemble a blend of great contrasts and complexity.
About Dom Perignon
When Father Pierre Perignon took over as cellar master at the Benedictine Abbey of Hautvillers in 1668, his avowed goal was "to make the best wine in the world". For a young monk just 30 years old, it took a visionary spirit and exceptional audacity to pursue such lofty ambitions. An exact contemporary of Louis XIV, Dom Perignon transformed the history of wine, just as the Sun King revolutionized the very notion of "art de vivre". Wine was the medium for their meeting, as the excellence of "Father Perignon's wine" earned it a place at the king's table.
More than three centuries later, the House of Dom Perignon perpetuates the visionary approach of its founder, widely considered the spiritual father of Champagne. Released only as a vintage, Dom Perignon is cellar aged for at least seven years prior to release. This time is critical for harmonising the flavours and ensuring that the wine’s balance remains elegant, sensual and ethereal. Dom Perignon can also be enjoyed many years later with rare OEnotheque vintages, released by the Chef de Cave at times when the intensity and complexity of the wine has reached optimum levels. Each new vintage is a unique creative act, reinventing the extraordinary style of a wine that only the Chef de Cave may declare a "vintage year".
"The grapes are never the same from one year to the next. If a harvest does not meet Dom Perignon's unyielding standards, there will be no vintage champagne that year. This isn't a value judgment - it's an aesthetic vision" says Dom Perignon Chef de Cave Richard Geoffroy.
The unique personality of Dom Perignon is born of this creative commitment. It is this tension between the distinctive qualities of a year and the timeless spirit that defines Dom Perignon, an unparalleled sensation that imparts weightlessness, airy richness and suppleness from first impression to the long-lasting finish.
Dom Perignon: the best wine in the world.