Dom Pérignon exists only as a vintage wine. Moët & Chandon declare it in years they judge worth the name and skip the rest, so every bottle carries a date on the front rather than a house blend behind it. 1969 was declared, and the wine was made in the cool, high-acid style that gives old Champagne its long life.
The name belongs to the Benedictine cellarer at Hautvillers who spent some forty years in the seventeenth century improving how the abbey's wines were blended and handled. The abbey now belongs to the house, and the bottle shape is modelled on a seventeenth-century original.
At fifty-seven years this is Champagne that has gone somewhere else entirely: the mousse will be soft or nearly gone, the colour deep gold, the flavours closer to toasted nuts, honey and dried apple than to anything fresh. Old cork is the real risk with any Champagne of this age, and we would rather say so than not.
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Producer: Dom Pérignon
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Vintage: 1969
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Appellation: Champagne AOC
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Format: 75cl
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Region: Champagne, France
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Style: Sparkling
Where it is likely to be now. Old vintage Champagne is a genuine gamble on the cork, but a sound bottle of 1969 will be still, golden and nutty rather than sparkling and bright.
Who it suits. A 57th birthday for someone who already drinks good Champagne and would find a bottle from their own year more interesting than a young prestige cuvée.
Condition. The merchant grades the bottle as good; we check the fill, capsule and the state of the cork before the bottle ships, since cork is where old Champagne fails.
Provenance. Bought to order from a professional European merchant. We check fill, label and capsule when the bottle reaches us and photograph it before it ships.
Delivered in 7 to 10 working days, tracked. Transit cover can be added at checkout.
Sold as a collectible item, as seen. No guarantee is given on drinkability.
