Toast To the Pleasures of Dom Perignon
By Morris Dye
Ask chef George Mavrothalassitis to name his favorite champagne, and there is an unmistakable spark of passion in his reply.
"I love Dom Perignon!" he says in English richly flavored with the cadences of his native France. "What I like in Dom Perignon is the elegance of the bubbles — very, very fine bubbles compared with other grande cuvee champagnes."
For the past 15 years, Mavrothalassitis has made his home in Hawaii, and the menu at Chef Mavro, his signature Honolulu restaurant, embraces the diverse Asian-Pacific influences that have defined contemporary Hawaiian cuisine. Yet half a world away from the chalky hillsides of northeastern France where champagne is produced, a glass of Dom Perignon is as natural as a sunset.
"In Hawaii it's beautiful, because we use a lot of fresh fish," Mavrothalassitis says. "Champagne pairs well with sashimi or carpaccio, lobster, any kind of seafood. But the No. 1 thing about wine and food pairing is, if you have a doubt about what to drink with your food, bring champagne. Except for chocolate, I think you can drink champagne with almost anything."
Dom Perignon, the top-of-the-line prestige cuvee of Moet et Chandon, takes its name from a 17th-century Benedictine monk who would no doubt be astonished to learn that the effervescent wine he perfected more than 300 years ago has become a fixture at elegant dinners and festive gatherings from Paris to Tokyo and everywhere in between.
While the winemaker-monk did not invent sparkling wine, historians credit him with key innovations in cultivation, harvesting and blending techniques that are still used in the Champagne region today. Dom Perignon also learned to control the secondary fermentation that gives champagne its fizz, resulting in delicately fruity wines with high acid content, yeasty overtones and a unique ability to satisfy the palate before, during or after a meal.
"Champagne doesn't overpower food like a robust red wine," says Jenna Fagnan, senior brand manager for Dom Perignon's U.S. importer, Schieffelin & Somerset. "It really complements it and brings out the flavor."
A full-bodied champagne like Dom Perignon rose even stands up to the strong flavors of venison or lamb, she says, adding that the versatility of this remarkable wine extends well beyond the realm of continental cuisine.
"Our winemaker spends a lot of time in Asia, specifically Japan, because he loves the way Japanese food complements Dom Perignon? Lately he's working to pair Thai food with Dom Perignon, and he's coming up with some combinations that work immensely well."
Unlike less expensive nonvintage champagnes, in which wines from different years are blended to produce a consistent style and flavor, Dom Perignon is made exclusively from grapes harvested in a single year. And unlike most other vintage champagnes, the Dom Perignon label is only bestowed on vintages deemed worthy of the name.
Since Moet et Chandon introduced Dom Perignon in the 1920s, vintage years have been declared four or five times a decade on average, Fagnan says, and each vintage has its own unique characteristics. "The 1995 that we have out right now has a little bit of apricot, some toasted almond, a bit of honey, which you didn't have in the 1993." What remains consistent across the vintages, she adds, is the balance of flavors from start to finish, as well as an elusive quality wine experts call "mouth feel."
"It sounds sort of funny, but it's really true that when you taste Dom Perignon, the way it feels in your mouth is very sensual, very seductive, very silky," said Fagnan.
With the price tag on Dom Perignon ranging from around $80 for discounted bottles of 1995 Brut up to hundreds of dollars for rarer vintages, some special care is in order to make sure you get the most out of your investment. Fagnan recommends storing all champagnes out of direct light in the coolest part of your home — in the basement, if you have one — and she says most champagnes are best consumed within a year or two of purchase.
As for serving, Fagnan recommends against chilling champagne in the fridge.
"A lot of people serve it too cold, and then you don't get the full experience of the flavors and the aromas," she says. Instead, place the bottle in an ice bucket with equal parts ice and water for 15 or 20 minutes and the temperature will be just right.
For older vintages, Fagnan prefers to use Chablis-style white wine glasses instead of narrow flutes, so the complexities of the wine have room to open up, and she recommends filling champagne glasses only half full, which better maintains the proper temperature and allows escaping aromas to accumulate in the glass.
So when is the best time to drink Dom Perignon? Not surprisingly, Fagnan asserts that you really don't have to save it for special occasions like New Year's Eve. "I love bringing it to my close friends' houses when there's a little gathering of us together. That's when I think it's really special and fun. You appreciate it so much more. And it just brings the whole evening to another level."
Mavrothalassitis puts it another way. "I like to drink champagne with my wife, even when it's not a special day. We open a bottle just because it's Monday or Tuesday — no special reason at all. You can't beat it!"
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