In 1693, monk and cellar master Pierre Pérignon invented (or rather discovered by chance) champagne. He was born in 1638 and, at his baptism, they couldn’t toast with champagne to celebrate, because there wasn’t any. Dom would come to him later because it is a sort of title given in France to some Ecclesiastes.
At the age of 19, he entered a Benedictine monastery because that’s what he was devoted to, and when he was 30, he was moved to the Abbey of Hautvilliers, in the middle of the Champagne region. There he took care of the winery because even though he was almost blind, he had a great smell.
He vilified that life was quiet in the abbey, and woe betide him, until one day, he heard a bottle explosion. The venerable monk set out to get the bottle that had burst to see what had happened and opened another to see if everything was all right. He tried it, and they say he soliloquised one of the most beautiful phrases in the history of mankind: “I’m drinking stars!”
It turns out, that the wine had fermented twice, what a great scintillation. And there, the ‘Traditional Method’ was born. It was all set for one of the greatest discoveries in history, and probably the most lavish, luxurious, sumptuous and wonderful. The world’s most famous champagne was born: Dom Pérignon.
If you would like to toast to Dom himself, Tattersalls Club currently stocks two different vintages; the 2010 Dom Pérignon and the 2003 Dom Pérignon Plenitude 2. To secure your bottle, please contact the team at dine@tattersallsclub.org
