Dom Perignon

[Pville]

Hello everyone, thank you for taking the time to read my posting.

I am a 23-year-old Engineer who is about to make the plunge into the world of holly matrimony. My fiancé and my wedding is this coming Labor Day, and we have begun the long ordeal of ironing out our wedding day details. As a wedding night surprise, I am entertaining the idea of buying two bottles of Dom Perignon; one to share with each other on our wedding night, the second to share with each other on an anniversary some years down the road.

I guess I would like to request for any tid-bits of info that anyone may have for me as I select the perfect bottle. As I started looking at prices and availability, it seemed that a bottle of Vintage 1993 would be a good choice just due to it's much larger availability, and thus lower cost. However, as I read more and more, I found that the 1990 Vintage was a much better bottle, but much more. The cost wasn't that big of a deal for me (you only get married once, right?) it's just as a started looking for places that had bottles of 1990 Vintage, I started finding bottles that were being sold WAY cheaper at some locations than at others. For example; one place I found a bottle of 1990 Dom was priced at 252.00, whereas a second place I found was at 139.00. What I did notice, however, was that the cheaper selections always had the word "Cuvee." What does that mean? Does it mean anything? Is there anything I should know about different types of Dom? Is there any thing I should know about the seller before purchasing a bottle?

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

[Innkeeper]

Hi Pville, and welcome to the Wine Board. Look up postings by Tom Stevenson and Botafogo (Roberto) on the seach function. Then e-mail either or both of them for recommendations. Am sure that both will give you suggestions of much better and less expensive alternatives to DP.

[tomstevenson]

Hi

[tomstevenson]

Hi Neil (pville)

I received your email (Innkeeper did right).

It might surprise some of my e-chums on Wine Board, but I'm going to recommend the 1993 DP over the 1990. In terms of current drinking, I've consistently rated the 1993 (96 points) over the 1990 (90-91 points), primarily because the 1990 was disgorged much too early.

If both vintages were to be disgorged in, say, another 10 years, the scores might be very different indeed.

However, the main reason I am recommending the 1993 is because the question of storage of the 1990 DP since it was released. I suspect that many of the lower-priced 1990s will have been picked up from private purchases, the provenance of which will at best be uncertain. Most of the more expensive offerings will probably be from retailers who have stored the 1990 since they received it direct from their own suppliers and possibly from a later rather than earlier release. But even if you are told that a specific bottle has been in the same retailer's hands since it was shipped, can you be sure that it has been kept in the dark (preferably in its case) in a storeroom with a constant temperature of 12 degrees Celsius (54F) or less? If it's been on a shelf under shop lighting, it's not going to be very nice at all.

So go for the 1993 (or if your wedding is not within the next 12 months, consider waiting for the 1995 to be released), but there is still the question of storing your second bottle. Do you have good storage? If not, do you know anyone who does? If not, do not bother. A bottle of Champagne stored for one year at room temperature will have 70-times the amount of mercaptans (unpleasant smelling volatile sulfur compounds) than the same bottle stored at a constant 12 degrees or less.

If you do have access to good storage, then the 1993 should keep well until at least 2011 (that's a conservative estimate - under IDEAL conditions most vintages of DP last 30-40 years). If you can afford it, I would recommend that you buy a magnum for your second bottle, as this will age slower and last longer. You can also share it with more friends.

If you do not have access to to good storage, then in another 8-10 years the 1993 should be re-released, freshly disgorged as part of the recently launched DP Oenotheque. Some 10-15 years after that another tranche of freshly disgorged 1993 will be released.

Hope this answers all your questions.

All the best for a long and happy marriage.
Tom

[Pville]

Thanks so much for all the info. It was a big help.

With what you said about the different sellers in respect to the prices, should I shy away from the sellers that are selling their Vintage 93 for $99.99USD, and lean more toward the sellers that are offering the same Vintage for the $150-$180 USD range? Or does it not really matter due to either way I don't know how well either of them had there bottles in storage?

Thanks so much once again.