Defining a New Vintage

Leave it to Dom Pérignon, the Champagne house that has been making wine for more than three centuries, to come up with OEnothèque, a unique definition of luxury. It’s the masterpiece of Dom Pérignon’s chef de cave, Richard Geoffroy, who has just named two releases that will bear the OEnothèque label. Here’s how it works: instead of being bottled after seven years, some of the wine is held back so that the yeast can mature further. Every year Geoffroy tastes the Champagne (cuvées generally age for 12 to 15 years, and up to more than 25 years) to determine whether it is worthy of release. The latest OEnothèque Champagnes—one from the 1993 vintage and another from the 1985 vintage—are now on sale.