Moët and Chandon

History

Moët et Chandon began as Moët et Cie (Moët & Co.), established by Épernay wine trader Claude Moët in 1743, and began shipping his wine from Champagne to Paris. The reign of King Louis XV coincided with increased demand for sparkling wine. Soon after its foundation, and after son Claude-Louis joined Moët et Cie, the winery's clientele included nobles and aristocrats.

In 1833 the company was renamed Moet et Chandon after Pierre-Gabriel Chandon, the director of maisson4, joined the company as a partner of Jean-Remy Moet, Claude Moet's grandson.

Following the introduction of the concept of a vintage champagne in 1840, Moët marketed its first vintage in 1842. Their best-selling brand, Brut Imperial, was introduced in the 1860s. Their best known label, Dom Perignon, is named for the Benedictine monk remembered in legend as the "Father of Champagne".

Moët & Chandon merged with Hennessy Cognac in 1971 and with Louis Vuitton in 1987 to become LVMH (Louis-Vuitton-Moët-Hennessy), the largest luxury group in the world, netting over 16 billion euros in fiscal 2004. Moët & Chandon holds a royal warrant as supplier of champagne to Queen Elizabeth II.

In 2006, Moët et Chandon Brut Impérial issued an extremely limited bottling of its champagne named "Be Fabulous", a special release of its original bottle with decorative Swarovski crystals, marking the elegance of Moët et Chandon.

Dom Perignon

Dom Pérignon (/ˌdɒmpɛrɪˈnjɒn/; French pronunciation: ​[dɔ̃peʁiɲɔ̃]) is a brand of Champagne produced by Moët et Chandon. It is named after Dom Pérignon, a Benedictine monk who was an important quality pioneer for Champagne wine but who, contrary to popular myths, did not discover the champagne method for making sparkling wines. Dom Pérignon was the first prestige cuvée, an idea proposed by Englishman Laurence Venn. The first vintage of Dom Pérignon was 1921 and was only released for sale in 1936. Dom Pérignon is a vintage champagne, meaning that it is only made in the best years, and all grapes used to make the wine were harvested in the same year. Many champagnes, by contrast, are non-vintage, which means that the champagne is made from grapes harvested in various years.

Current production

Around 5 million bottles are produced in each vintage. The wine is 60% Chardonnay and 40% Pinot noir, with 6 g/l dosage. According to Tom Stevenson, "All vintages need at least 12 years ageing to nurture Dom Pérignon's signature silky mousse". As of 2008, the current release of Dom Pérignon is from the 2000 vintage and the current release of Dom Pérignon Rosé is from the 1998 vintage. The current (2009) winemaker is Richard Geoffroy, who has been Chef de Cave for Dom Pérignon since 1998.

Domaine Chandon

In 1973, the then Moët-Hennessy company founded Domaine Chandon, an outpost winery in the Napa Valley. It was the first French-owned sparkling wine venture in the United States. The fine dining restaurant etoile is situated at the winery.

Domaine Chandon in Australia was established in 1986 at Coldstream, Victoria.

Sponsorships

Moët was the official Formula One champagne provider between 1966 and 1999 and again from 2016.

On 30 November 2012, Swiss tennis player Roger Federer became Moët et Chandon's brand ambassador. On 30 September 2015, Chandon announced it would be a sponsor of the McLaren F1 team starting 2016.

Pronunciation and origin of the name: Moët

The correct pronunciation is "mo-ette" or "mo-wett" (IPA: [moɛt]). The "t" is not silent. Legend has it that the family name originated in 1429 when a Dutch soldier named LeClerc warded off a group of English combatants who were trying to suppress the coronation of Charles VII in Reims. LeClerc headed a crowd of Remois that ran at the English screaming "Het moet zo zijn" (it must be so). The English retreated after that. LeClerc became known as M. Moët after the incident.