TDG Wine Camp: Drinking Dollar Signs

[Craig Camp]

Dom Perignon is not only available at every good hotel, upscale restaurant and wine shop in the world, but at most casinos, fancy discos, strip clubs, gentleman’s clubs (shall we call them) and in a huge number of locked glass cabinets behind the counter in countless seedy liquor stores, convenience shops and drug stores throughout the world.

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[Fat Guy]

Does Moet & Chandon cop to the actual amount of DP produced, or are those figures kept secret?

[Craig Camp]

Does Moet & Chandon cop to the actual amount of DP produced, or are those figures kept secret?

It's easier to get the President's secret codes for nuclear war.

[Fat Guy]

So probably more than Fresca but less than Coca-Cola.

[Mark Sommelier]

Does Moet & Chandon cop to the actual amount of DP produced, or are those figures kept secret?

The number that I have heard is in excess of a million bottles a year.

[Craig Camp]

You gotta give them credit - it is amazing they can make that much good wine. It has to be the highest quality mass-produced wine on the market.

...and can you imagine the profit that a million bottle of Dom generates for Moet

[Mayhaw Man]

(always remember that Dom Perignon is mostly made from yeast waste combined with the flavors of the dead yeast cells breaking down in the bottle)

Craig,

Does this mean that no healthy active yeast is added for the second stage (in bottle for primarily carbonation purposes) fermentation?

Do you have any idea what the process is? Do they shoot a bit of finished still wine that has been stirred to mix up the yeast that settled out during fermentation (for lack of a more technical term) into the bottle and then add fined product?

Or is this a deep dark secret protected by cloistered, drunken monks?

Greatly enjoyed the piece. Thanks.

[fresco]

So probably more than Fresca but less than Coca-Cola.

Sounds like the "ginger ale of champagnes."

[Fat Guy]

There must be some industry observers who have collected data from various stores and restaurants and been able to make a pretty accurate projection of the total amount of DP sold in a year. Given the prevalence of this stuff, a million bottles almost sounds like a lowball estimate.

Incidentally, isn't the number one retailer of DP in the world Costco?

[Mark Sommelier]

There must be some industry observers who have collected data from various stores and restaurants and been able to make a pretty accurate projection of the total amount of DP sold in a year. Given the prevalence of this stuff, a million bottles almost sounds like a lowball estimate.

Incidentally, isn't the number one retailer of DP in the world Costco?

Costco has become the number one retailer of fine wine in the United States.

[Fat Guy]

We were at Costco in Hackensack, NJ, about a week ago and I was amazed at the number of upper-end Mercedes, BMW, Lexus, etc. automobiles in the parking lot. I won't be surprised to show up at Costco one day to find a Bentley for half price (with a free bottle of DP in the glovebox, I'm sure).

[hannnah]

At last year's NY auto show, the Maybach 62 was displayed with a bottle of Dom Perignon in the bottle-sized cupholder. They didn't mention if the bottle was standard equipment.

[Chris Kissack]

Does this mean that no healthy active yeast is added for the second stage (in bottle for primarily carbonation purposes) fermentation?

The Methode Champenoise involves adding a solution of sugar and yeast, known as the "liqueur de tirage" to the still wine for the second fermentation. So the wine gets fresh yeast, plus a dose of sugar-food.

Later on, after degorgement, the wine is topped up with a bit of wine plus sugar (amount depending on the style of Champagne). This solution is known as "dosage".

BWs

Chris Kissack

[Rieslingfan]

Wines that have high percentages of pinot meunier tend to be the simplest and cheapest Champagnes -- White Star anyone?

Remember the exception that proves the rule: Krug. They use a higher % of Meunier than just about anyone else, and make the a)most expensive and b) arguably best Champagne in the world. (Obviously the Clos de Mesnil is a Blanc de Blancs, so no Meunier there.)

As for Dom Perignon, I was at a tasting with the Dom "Brand Ambassador" and he offered that in declared years they make about 1,000,000 bottles of Dom Perignon. Also he stated that the grapes for Dom are all from estate vineyards. Moet uses no pruchased grapes in Dom Pergnon. That's unusual for any Champagne from the big houses.

BTW, the '95 Dom is excellent, but needs several years in bottle IMO.

And in the for what it's worth section, I have a bottle of Moet Champagne that will get opened soon. It's made from a single vineyard & is 100% Pinot Meunier. We'll see what happens. I'm looking forward to trying it.

[Craig Camp]

Wines that have high percentages of pinot meunier tend to be the simplest and cheapest Champagnes -- White Star anyone?

Remember the exception that proves the rule: Krug. They use a higher % of Meunier than just about anyone else, and make the a)most expensive and b) arguably best Champagne in the world. (Obviously the Clos de Mesnil is a Blanc de Blancs, so no Meunier there.)

As for Dom Perignon, I was at a tasting with the Dom "Brand Ambassador" and he offered that in declared years they make about 1,000,000 bottles of Dom Perignon. Also he stated that the grapes for Dom are all from estate vineyards. Moet uses no pruchased grapes in Dom Pergnon. That's unusual for any Champagne from the big houses.

BTW, the '95 Dom is excellent, but needs several years in bottle IMO.

And in the for what it's worth section, I have a bottle of Moet Champagne that will get opened soon. It's made from a single vineyard & is 100% Pinot Meunier. We'll see what happens. I'm looking forward to trying it.

Exceptions to the rules is what makes the world such an interesting place.

Making 1,000,000 bottles of estate bottled wine does not mean that you necessarily make great wine - just that you own a lot of vineyards.

There can be no doubt that Dom is a good wine, but there is a LONG list of equal or better wines for less money. Dom is a prestige consumer item like Montblanc pens. Sure Montblanc pens write great, but let's face it there are other pens that cost much less that work just as well. Both Dom and Montblanc are jewelry that is worn to make a statement.

(By the way I have both Dom and a Montblanc pen that were given to me as gifts that I like very much )

[Rieslingfan]

Making 1,000,000 bottles of estate bottled wine does not mean that you necessarily make great wine - just that you own a lot of vineyards.

There can be no doubt that Dom is a good wine, but there is a LONG list of equal or better wines for less money. Dom is a prestige consumer item like Montblanc pens. Sure Montblanc pens write great, but let's face it there are other pens that cost much less that work just as well. Both Dom and Montblanc are jewelry that is worn to make a statement.

(By the way I have both Dom and a Montblanc pen that were given to me as gifts that I like very much )

I'm not disagreeing with you at all Craig. In fact I don't buy Dom because I do much better for less money. (I do buy Krug, but there's nothing else quite like it.) I just thought the information was interesting.

Dom is a lot like a Jaguar. They both look great but never perform quite as well as one would expect for the $.

[Craig Camp]

Dom is a lot like a Jaguar. They both look great but never perform quite as well as one would expect for the $.

LOL