Posts Tagged ‘Hautvillers’

The music of Dom Pérignon

12 of Nov 2012, filed under Behind The Scenes

I often liken a vintage to a musical piece composed by nature: as the chef de cave my role is to interpret it. This harmonious dialogue between Dom Pérignon’s singularity and the personality of the vintage is the key to revealing the wine’s extra soul.

To bring this metaphor to reality, Alexandre Desplat, Lang Lang and Robert Wilson were recently approached to compose, interpret and direct three music pieces inspired by three wines I had selected for their unprecedented character: Dom Pérignon Vintage 2003; Dom Pérignon Rosé 2000; and Dom Pérignon Oenothèque 1966. I invited them for successive tastings during which Alexandre put his sensations into words: Vintage 2003 “sparkling, with sudden breaks, like a mosaic of disorganized elements”; Rosé 2000 “sensual, flowing, cloudy, reminiscent of Debussy”; and Oenothèque 1966 “earthy, powerful, dense, like a slow rising”.

The Tipping Point

Much as Dom Pérignon reveals itself as it is savored, the raison d’être of a music piece is to be performed. Piano virtuoso Lang Lang and director Robert Wilson worked in concert to bring the musical notation to life. The three artists were involved right from the start and as Lang Lang noted during the first meeting in February, “it is rare these days to create new music together for such an unusual event, from the first idea to the last, as we are doing here”.

I could imagine no better setting for such a concert than the Château de Versailles and its timeless connection to Hautvillers, around a spectacular dinner desgined by Jean-François Piège. The Salon d’Hercule inspired the director: more specifically the “Feast at the Table of Saint Simon”, a painting by Veronese hanging from its walls, which suggested the idea of two long tables as the backdrop for the dancers. Robert Wilson, creating tension between classicism and modernity, mentioned that his challenge was “to create a stage design that will help the audience hear better with their eyes wide open”.

The performance was an emotional moment for me, as I witnessed Dom Pérignon finding its counterpart in the work of the artists. The rhythm of the music, its vibrancy and intensity evoked memories of Hautvillers, sending me back to the intimacy of my own creative experience. No further evidence was necessary to recognize that these three extraordinary artists had succeeded in transposing the spirit of Dom Pérignon into music, and I raised a glass of Dom Pérignon to their incredible talent!

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Preserving the Past

20 of Aug 2012, filed under Looking Back

The abbey of Hautvillers remains for me the place of inspiration and vision that it was in the time of dom Pierre Pérignon. Founded circa 650 by Saint Nivard, and home to the relics of Saint Helena since 841, Hautvillers survived the vicissitudes of history in an unbroken cycle of destruction and rebirth. Pillaged by the Normans in 882, plundered during the Hundred Years War, sacked during the Wars of Religion, damaged after the French Revolution and during the World Wars, Hautvillers was rebuilt several times, once thanks to a gift from Catherine de Medici.

The Tipping Point

The presence of the relics brought fame, pilgrims and riches to the Abbey. A young monk called dom Pierre Pérignon was named cellarer in 1668, at 29 years of age. He immediately set out to develop the abbey (creating a dormitory, rebuilding the cloister, erecting a new entrance and adding the Gates of Saint Helena); to enlarge the holdings (Hautvillers became the largest vineyard in Champagne at ten times the size of the average property); and to modernise the winemaking (selecting of grapes for the assemblage or renovating the wine presses). Under dom Pierre Pérignon’s guidance, the destiny of the Abbey became forever linked to viticulture and winemaking, and during the reign of Louis XIV Hautvillers became famous as much for its sparkling wine as for its spiritual importance.

Nearly 200 years after dom Pierre Pérignon’s death, the time for renovation had come again. In 2009 we commissioned a study in order to restore the gates of Saint Helena, the cloisters and the gardens employing special techniques from the 17th century. The gates and the cloister being French Heritage Sites, the work was supervised by an architect from the “Bâtiments de France”. Overlooking the gardens which offer a history of viticultural practices, the former library of the cloister has been restored to its former glory—its contemplative and serene aura providing the perfect setting for Dom Pérignon tastings. Finally, ruins discovered at the end of the 1980s following archeological excavations have been secured for further study. After three years of planning and labor, the renovations are now complete.

Like the men who left their mark in Hautvillers through architecture, contemplation and working the land, dom Pérignon was a temporary guardian, whose legacy lives on through the seminal treatise written by Brother Pierre, his disciple and successor, and titled “Treatise of the Vine Culture of Champagne”. The Abbey is still home to this unique and precious tome, both tangible links between past and present, symbols of modernity and tradition. The legacy of the Abbey of Hautvillers is beyond technical, it is first and foremost spiritual. Inspiration finds me here, as I walk its grounds and I become one with this space, with no objective other than remaining true to the timeless essence of Dom Pérignon.

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