Elite Traveler HRS 2025

DISCOVER

by Ellys Woodhouse Wine & Spirits

As certain as he seems, that’s not to say that Chaperon’s job is without precision. The very seven for Dom Pérignon Vintage 200 6 toreach Plénitude 2 . The result of patience, precision and practice, after an initial maturation of 15 years, it took an additional

Is winemaking an art or a science? It’s a question that has hung over the profession with a weight like grapes in late harvest. When oenophiles start to discuss the pH of the soil, its moisture content or storage temperatures, you might be tempted to reach for a lab coat and protective goggles. It’s not a question, however, that seems to concern Vincent Chaperon. For the chef de cave at Dom Pérignon, the answer is conclusive: “Wine is art. It’s about nature, wine is about craftsmanship. To be the embodiment of an aesthetic vision and an emotion; that’s the border between craft and art.”

foundation of Dom Pérignon is built on the knowledge (and yeast) first discovered by the monk after whom the eponymous brand is named. And it’s this shared generational wisdom —plus working in the industry since the age of 21 — that Chaperon pulls upon to take the necessary risks in his craft; to allow the confidence to make decisions that have no real mathematical reason. Trying to navigate that distinction is all part of the chef de cave’s role. Since the maison only releases vintages with grapes harvested in a single year, there’s always an element of unpredictability when you are at the behest of nature.

Photos Harold de Puymorin, Egami

Clockwise Dom Pérignon Révélations dinner; the 2024 edition at Ricardo Bofill’s La Fábrica; Dom Pérignon Révélations exhibition; a celebration of two new vintages; Dom Pérignon gathered journalists, artists, sommeliers and esteemed friends of the house