Robe — Pale gold threaded with a fine, persistent bead
green apple
citrus
brioche
hazelnut
chalk
Palate
Taut and chalk-bright; the mousse creamy, the finish saline
Ageing
Non-vintage 2–5 years; vintage 10–30
Serving
8–10 °C, in a generous glass rather than a flute
Dom Pérignon, cellarer of Hautvillers from 1668, did not invent the bubbles — he spent his life fighting them — but his art of blending across the crus laid the region's true foundation. It was England, with its stronger coal-fired glass and a documented taste for sparkling wine by the 1660s, that turned the fault into a fashion.
The méthode tamed it: a second fermentation in the bottle, long years on the lees, and the riddling table devised in the widow Clicquot's cellars around 1816 to draw the wine off clear. Three grapes — Pinot Noir, Meunier, Chardonnay — grown on chalk and blended into the world's synonym for celebration.