Dom Pérignon is the Benedictine monk traditionally associated with the development of Champagne’s early sparkling-wine methods.
Pérignon served as cellar master at Hautvillers Abbey in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. The abbey stood in the Champagne region and owned vineyards whose wines were important to its finances. Later stories credited him with “inventing” Champagne, but historians consider that claim an oversimplification.
Sparkling wine resulted from several developments, including bottle technology, stronger glass, cork closures, cool cellar conditions, and improved understanding of fermentation. Pérignon is more securely associated with improving the quality and blending of still wines than with single-handedly creating modern Champagne.
The famous phrase “Come quickly, I am tasting the stars” is often attributed to him, but it is probably a later marketing invention. Dom Pérignon is also the name of Moët & Chandon’s prestige Champagne, first released from the 1921 vintage.