Tag: Champagne

Glasses are definitely a key part of wine tasting. Finding the right glass for each individual wine could well be the hobby of many wine geeks, still for me it is also crucial to provide the best possible experience to Dom Pérignon lovers. I have always had a friendly relationship with Georg Riedel, born of our mutual esteem. The Riedel family business, established in 1756 in Bohemia, is known worldwide for its high-quality crystal glasses: their Burgundy Grand Cru crystal glass, handmade and mouth-blown, is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Last August I had the visit of Maximilian Riedel (Georg’s son, representing the 11th generation of the family in the glass business) who came to me with a large selection of stemware: our aim that day was to find the perfect glass for Dom Pérignon Rosé, a glass that would do justice to the wine by presenting it in the best conditions for appreciation. It would have been possible to create a specific glass for this Champagne, but I preferred to choose from the existing collection. At the time I also had the upcoming 1990 Dom Pérignon Rosé Œnothèque in mind. I settled on the Pinot Noir Vinum XL, which is not so surprising given the assertive Pinot Noir character of Dom Pérignon Rosé. This fantastic glass really shows the wine in an uncompromising way, especially on the palate.

The first aspect that grabbed our attention was the intensity of the nose and how the wine could breathe in the glass. Second, I felt it put the fruit right at the center of the tasting experience without compromising the complexity of the aromas. Third, it rendered the right expression on the palate, especially the amplitude and texture, both of them fundamental qualities of Dom Pérignon. And incidentally, I could only appreciate the lyre shape of this glass that resonates with the Oriental theme of the Silk Road dinners!

Richard Geoffroy
of Dom Pérignon