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Dom Pérignon 1961

Moët & Chandon, Champagne, France

Moët & Chandon
Champagne France
  • 98
    Points
  • The 484 best
    of 3 290 954
    wines globally
  • 22 Pros of
    22 recommend
    this wine
1560 98
  • Taste
  • Moment
  • BEST CHAMPAGNE OF THE 1960's
    BWW1960's-competition

  • Country ranking ?

    409

  • Producer ranking ?

    28

  • Decanting time

    None

  • When to drink

    now to 2025

  • Food Pairing

    Sea Scallop and Passion Fruit Carpaccio

The Tb points given to this wine are the world’s most valid and most up-to-date evaluation of the quality of the wine. Tastingbook points are formed by the Tastingbook algorithm which takes into account the wine ratings of the world's best-known professional wine critics, wine ratings by thousands of tastingbook’s professionals and users, the generally recognised vintage quality and reputation of the vineyard and winery. Wine needs at least five professional ratings to get the Tb score. Tastingbook.com is the world's largest wine information service which is an unbiased, non-commercial and free for everyone.

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Dom Pérignon 1961 – The Choice of Charles and Diana

Gilded by the morning sun, the Buckingham Palace balcony awaited its grand moment, empty. The street parties that had gone on through the night in London had quietened down, and the square in front of the balcony began to fill with citizens, press and tourists hungry for romance. As the time neared ten o’clock, the crowds were about to be rewarded for their patience.

            At 10:3...

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The Story

 At the end of the 17th Century, Dom Pierre Pérignon stated his ambition to create ‘the best wine in the world’.  On 29 September 1694, Dom Pierre Pérignon wrote that his mission was to create “the best wine in the world.” He dedicated himself to improving viticulture techniques, perfecting the art blending grapes from different crus, and introduced the gentle and fractional pressing to obtain white wine from black grapes.Ever since, the House...

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Wine Information

DOM PÉRIGNON VINTAGE 1961 /THE HARVEST

After an extended winter, the spring of 1962 was hit hard by storms and hail. The early summer was cold, and flowering was late and lingering. Fine weather in September continued well into the harvest, which did not begin until October 4th.

TASTING NOTES
Tasted several times, “dry dry” and “very dry” appear and reappear from 1971. A lovely firm champagne, highly elegant and refined. Then not tasted...

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Vintage 1961

The 1961 vintage in Champagne is celebrated as an exceptional year that yielded wines of outstanding quality and finesse. In this vintage report, we will delve into the key characteristics and highlights of the 1961 Champagne wines.

Weather Conditions: The weather conditions in Champagne during the 1961 growing season were instrumental in shaping the extraordinary character of the vintage. The year began with a mild winter, followed by a sp...

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Average Bottle Price

2022 2020 2019 2017 2016 2015 2013 2010 2000
1 860€ +28.3% 1 450€ +28.8% 1 126€ +22.3% 921€ +3.5% 890€ +14.0% 781€ +25.6% 622€ +10.5% 563€ +145.9% 229€

This data comes from the FINE Auction Index, a composite of average prices for wines sold at commercial auctions in 20 countries. The average prices from each year have been collected since 1990. This chart plots the index value of the average price of the wines.

Tasting note

color

Medium, Gold and Evolved

ending

Long, Lingering and Gentle

flavors

Toasty, Mineral, Spice, Vanilla, Bread and Apricot

nose

Intense, Seductive, Refined and Complex

recommend

Yes

taste

Average in Acidity, Low alcohol content, Medium tannin, Balanced, Perfectly balanced, Concentrated, Developing, Medium-bodied, Elegant, Vivid, Round, Dry and Silky tannins

Verdict

Excellent and Outstanding

Written Notes

I needed a palate refresher, and I could ask for none greater than a magnum of 1961 Dom Perignon Charles and Diana Wedding Cuvee.  This was a come to Jesus wine, and I’m not sure how anyone who attended that wedding didn’t have a religious experience or a baby.  Either or.  This was one of the, if not the, greatest bottle of Champagne I ever had.  It was electric on the palate, bringing the zippedy, doo dah and beautiful day all in one.  It was so young but had such maturity and wisdom to its flavors.  Bready, meaty, oily and long, this was rich, decadent and full of itself, as in its finish and length.  So good as in so great (99M).

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  • 99p

Legendary Dom Pérignon Lady Diana magnum still in great condition with delectable elegance and fabulous power.

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  • 97p
This vintage of Dom Pérignon has been tasted several times but this particular bottle was something much more than just a regular one. This magnum bottle contained a special label made for the wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana on the 19th of June 1981. These bottles were disgorged late in 1981, carrying more autolysis characters than regular Dom Pérignons of this year. Bright golden yellow colour with energetic fine bubbles. Very rich nose of milk chocolate, roasted coffee beans and bready tones. Dry, crisp acidity with light-bodied style and vibrant rich mousse. Extremely refined, elegant and opulent wine with toastiness, butterscotch and dried fruit, such as date flavours. Mineral lemony bite at the long finish. A very youthful wine still.
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  • 99p

Magnum disgorged 1981 for the royal wedding. Pale amber. Amazingly it smells like Dom P?rignon. Notes of putty! Excellent mousse ? hugely lively. You would really think this was decades younger than it is. Extraordinary. Lemony. Dry on the finish, but wonderfully vital, well-balanced fruit and autolysis on the mid palate. Tasted: 20-Oct-2011

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  • 100p
Dom Perignon 1961 / Intense golden yellow colour with lazy bubbles. Impressive, voluptuous and creamy nose full of toastiness, roasted coffee, ripe apricots with honeyed overtones and autolyse characters. Crisp, dry and broad palate with lovely texture. Vivid, toasty and citrussy flavours with lingering long finish. Fresh palate and beautifully evolved flavours. 97 points
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  • 97p
D - / G 45 min Golden amber colour with no bubbles. Rich toasty and creamy nose with slightly oxidised nutty aromas. Dry and very crisp on palate with moderate mousse, vivid acidity, and plenty of dried fruits. Complex palate with moderately long oxidative finish. Still very balanced wine. In proper condition this wine is extremely rewarding and may be cellared for another 10-12 years.
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  • 90p
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Information

Origin

Reims, Champagne

Vintage Quality

Outstanding

Value For Money

Best buy

Investment potential

Good

Fake factory

None

Glass time

30min

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Inside Information

DOM PÉRIGNON / MEMORABLE MOMENTS IN TIME

In 1936, the prestigious ocean liner Normandie left Le Havre port for New York. In its hold, it carried one hundred cases containing twelve bottles each of the 1921 vintage of Dom Pérignon. These were the first bottles of Dom Pérignon to arrive on American soil - just in time for Christmas and New Year’s Day – they were an immediate success.

In 1951, Marlene Dietrich served Dom Pérignon at an improvised Christmas dinner with two young friends, the writer Francine du Plessis and the poet Jonathan Williams. This dinner, with Dom Pérignon, became an annual affair.

In 1955, Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond, had his character, the very distinguished 007 Commander of the Royal Navy and officer in Her Majesty’s Secret Service, order a prized bottle of Dom Pérignon vintage 1946.

In 1957, Christian Dior invited Stanley Karnow, journalist, to his hôtel particulier in upscale Passy, located near the Château de la Muette to conduct an interview for Time.The interview took place over a glass (or two) of Dom Pérignon vintage 1949 in the magenta upholstered armchairs and under a stilted Bernard Buffet portrait of the world’s best known fashion designer….Mr. Dior was also an avid gourmet cook who had his own recipes - Dom Pérignon played a starring role in such dishes as salmon in aspic with Dom Pérignon, partridge with Dom Pérignon, sautéed woodcock with Dom Pérignon, and Chicken Dom Pérignon which called for an entire bottle of the wine.

In 1959, Marilyn Monroe met a young Danish screenwriter, Hans Jørgen Lembourn, in New York. They soon took off on a romantic journey to the mountains with “a small stock of Dom Pérignon” – a stock of joy. “

In 1961, Dom Pérignon Vintage 1949 was served at the dinner given at the U.S. Embassy in Paris for Charles de Gaulle and John F. Kennedy during the American’s president’s official visit.

In 1962, Marlene Dietrich published her ABCs. In the book she says “If you manage to get a perfectly chilled Dom Pérignon in a beautiful glass on the terrace of a Parisian restaurant with a view of trees in mid-autumn sunshine, you’ll feel like the most divine person in the world, even if you are used to drinking Champagne.”

In 1971, at an exclusive dinner for international dignitaries in celebration the 2,500th anniversary of the founding of the Persian Empire by Cyrus the Great, Dom Pérignon Rosé Vintage 1959 was served.

In 1981, magnums of Dom Pérignon Vintage 1961 was chosen for the wedding of Lady Diana Spencer and Prince Charles.

In 2004, Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony selected Dom Pérignon to serve at their wedding reception.

In 2004, with the sale of the Doris Duke collection at Christie’s in New York. A lot of three bottles of Dom Pérignon 1921 sold for US $24,675.

In 2006, Dom Pérignon was enjoyed at the wedding reception of Mathew Vaughn and Claudia Schiffer.

In 2006, bottles of Dom Pérignon were served at the wedding of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes.

In 2008, Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon chose Dom Pérignon to toast their wedding in the Bahamas.

In 2008, Dom Pérignon was Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s wine of choice for their wedding celebration.

In 2008, two sales held by Acker Merrall & Condit also left their mark on the history of Dom Pérignon, with three magnums of Dom Pérignon OEnothèque (1966, 1973 and 1976) selling for US $93,260 in Hong Kong, and a lot of two bottles of the legendary Dom Pérignon Rosé Vintage 1959 selling for US $84,700 in New York.

In 2008, Marc Newsom, the Australian designer changed the very conception of a champagne bucket when he designed for Dom Pérignon a high-tech sculpture that impresses by its size (70 centimeters when closed) in his favorite color, acidic green.

In 2009, Dom Pérignon was served in Versailles at a private dinner held in the hall of mirrors to commemorate the exhibition opening of King Louis IV, the Sun King, and the 300 anniversary of the birth of Luxury. A fitting wine for the recreation of the King’s table, as Père Pérignon’s wines from the Abby of Hautvillers was one of the King’s preferred wines during his life.

In 2010, Dom Pérignon releases Dom Pérignon Wedding.

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