A taste of Dom Perignon at the Abbaye d’Hautvillers

“So, what is the total production of Dom Perignon?” This may be a common question.  “Not enough'', could be an appropriate answer. In reality, this is the exact answer I received when I posed this question to the winemaker of Dom Perignon Nick Lane. Dom Perignon is the rare case of a brand, whose products represent the epitome of a luxury lifestyle, which, nonetheless, brilliantly manages to uphold its quality and to introduce innovations. 

The story has been told many times over. Dom Pérignon (1638 –1715) was a monk and cellar master at the Benedictine Abbey in Hautvillers (pictured below the exterior and interior) which now functions as the unofficial Headquarters of Dom Perignon. In the region of Champagne the wines had a tendency to sparkle gently, because fermentation stopped due to the cold winters, but then restarted in the spring, thus triggering the release of some CO2. Many people think that Dom Perignon discovered Champagne, but what he actually did was improve its winemaking techniques.