Dom Pérignon... The very name is evocative, making ears prick up and eyes sparkle. The taste buds tingle in anticipation as the hand reaches towards a flute of pale gold effervescing with delicate bubbles. The dream is very real; you are on the terrace of the Colette restaurant and, to accompany your tasting of Dom Pérignon, we're going to tell you a story. His story.
Once upon a time, Dom Pérignon
A monk, an abbey, cellars, presses and a passion. A passion for wine, the search for a taste, experience in creating blends. We have slipped back in time to about 1668 and the Champagne region, where we see a man wearing a cassock and leaning on a barrel. He is a Benedictine monk, the cellar master of the Abbey of Saint-Pierre in Hautvillers, and his name is Dom Pérignon, born Pierre some 30 years ago. He’s just returned from a visit to the Abbey of Saint-Hilaire (near Limoux) where he learned of an exciting new method of producing a sparkling wine. He can’t wait to try it!
An explosive idea
The idea was to add sugar - preferably in the form of a liqueur - during bottling in order to induce secondary fermentation while trapping the bubbles. His first attempt ends with his bottles exploding, but Dom Pérignon is not a man to be discouraged! He tries cork stoppers instead of wood, each fastened to the bottles with oiled hemp string, and he also uses bottles made of thicker glass. A master oenologist, he is assiduous in following the grape from the vine to the bottle, refining his blends, balancing the flavours, composing each cuvée with the precision and skill of an artist. Although we know that he was not the actual inventor of champagne, Dom Pérignon was a pioneer in winemaking techniques and in ensuring the quality of sparkling wines. Thus, the teams at the Sezz and its Colette restaurant call down to him through the winding corridors of the past and say, simply, thank you!
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Restaurant Colette, a unique setting, a singular signature and a modern concept
