Dom Pérignon (1639-1715) was a Bénédictin monk
born in France. Dom Perignon, known for his brilliant mind, becomes for 47 years, Prosecutor and
Administrator of the Cellars of the abbey of Hautvilliers near Reims. At that period, Reims was the town of
the sacrament of the kings of France and the wine produced here was famous for mass celebration. Dom Pérignon
was a wine expert. May be because he was blind, he was endowed with an outstanding sense of smell and palate.
He was able to recognize which grapes came from which vineyards. He had the brilliant idea to assemble the
wines between them in such a way that qualities of the ones are added to those of the others. Dom Pérignon
knew of the particular characteristic of the white wine of Aÿ, the wine of Champagne. It became effervescent
with a second, short-lived fermentation. It still contained some yeasts which remained dormant in cold
weather. Under the influence of the warmth of spring, when the sap begins to work in the vine, the yeasts wake
and proliferate. Dom Pérignon sought to induce this second, accidental fermentation of the wine of Champagne
at a given time, regulate it and keep its effervescence in the wine. Having understood that the pressure was
due to the carbon dioxide, he decided to use bottle made of thicker glass and better corks secure with a wire.
When he died at the beginning of the XVIII century, Champagne wines were favorite at the King's court. Louis
XVI and especially Madam de Pompadour will brag for the Champagne as we know it today. Today,
Moet et Chandon, the company who bought in 1794 the
Hautvillers' monastery, gave the name of Dom Perignon to their very best cuvée.
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