Beautiful bottle of Dom Perignon, although the light is not working because of a low battery. Dom Pérignon is a celebrated Champagne brand owned by Moët & Chandon. Its origins can be traced back to the Abbey of Saint Pierre d'Hautvillers in northern France – the so-called birthplace of Champagne. The 17th-Century Benedictine monk Dom Pierre Pérignon is credited with its invention after taking up the position as the abbey's cellarer and procurator in 1668. Pierre Pérignon spent the remaining 47 years of his life striving to create the "best wine in the world", with his wine even gracing the tables of the court of King Louis XIV, the Sun King. To this day the Abbey of Saint Pierre d'Hautvillers houses the "Le Traité de la culture des vignes de Champagne", or the "Treatise on the culture of the vines of Champagne", a manuscript that was penned by Dom Pierre – Pérignon's pupil and successor. The Dom Pérignon brand name was first registered by Eugène Mercier, the founder of Mercier Champagne. He subsequently sold the brand to the Moët & Chandon Champagne house, who used the Dom Pérignon name for its prestige cuvée, first released in 1937. Both Moët & Chandon and Dom Pérignon are now part of the LVMH group. Dom Pérignon has set down its guiding winemaking principles in a manifesto. This document declares Dom Pérignon's commitment to vintage wine blended from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes. Each vintage of Dom Pérignon is unique, with grapes sourced from only the best vineyards in Champagne. Unlike most Champagne producers who harvest the grapes early, the preference established under former cellarmaster Richard Geoffroy was to wait for the grapes to ripen slowly. The highly-respected Geoffroy was chef de cave from 1990 to January, 2019, when he handed over the reins to his assistant, Vincent Chaperon. Geoffroy was considered very much the face of the brand and perhaps the best-known figure within the modern Champagne industry. The portfolio From 2014, Dom Pérignon abandoned the term Oenothèque to describe its aged, late-release Champagnes. Instead Geoffroy introduced the Plénitude concept, with three releases at different stages of the wine's development. The wine is left in contact with the lees for a slow, but active maturation, carefully monitored by the chef de cave. When a window of opportunity, or "plénitude", presents itself, some of the wine is disgorged and released to consumers. Each vintage has three Plénitudes. The first occurs after approximately nine years; this is the "standard" Dom Pérignon Vintage. The wine might reach its second Plénitude at approximately 12-15 years. This bottling is Dom Pérignon P2, formerly known as the first oenothèque. The final Plénitude, Dom Pérignon P3, may occur after approximately 25 years. All the time bands quoted are generalizations, and individual releases may be much older. Dom Pérignon Rosé was first made in 1959. It has not been made in every declared vintage. Oenothéque, P2 and P3 versions are even more rare.