Dom Pérignon is traditionally credited with helping develop Champagne production at Hautvillers Abbey.
Dom Pierre Pérignon was a Benedictine monk who served as cellar master at the abbey of Hautvillers from 1668 until his death in 1715. He worked to improve vineyard management, grape selection, blending and the quality of the abbey’s wines. His name later became attached to the prestige Champagne brand Dom Pérignon.
The popular story that he invented sparkling wine and exclaimed that he was “drinking the stars” is not supported as a literal historical account. Sparkling wines existed before and outside Champagne, and accidental refermentation was a known phenomenon.
Pérignon’s importance lies more plausibly in improving still-wine and blending practices at a formative stage in Champagne’s history. The abbey itself is in Hautvillers, near Épernay, where he is buried.