My recent visit to Dom Perignon

You may have noticed I've been a little quiet of late... I was busy living one of my dreams! As someone who is passionate about taking the best of what nature has to offer and then perfecting the craft of utilising it, I have long been a fan of Dom Perignon. In this day and age of mechanisation and the mass production of everything, I love it on that rare occasion where tradition (and the recognition that often hand made is simply better) prevails - and Dom Perignon is one of those rare examples... the grapes picked by hand. The bottles riddled by hand. You may recall, because I blogged about it here, that a couple of years ago I did a light sculpture for Dom Perignon at Vue de Monde. Researching for the sculpture I was fascinated by the long history of monks keeping bees with Dom Pierre Perignon a monk of the Benedictine order (DOM = Deus Optimus Maximus - the highest 'rank' of monk) and their history with making beeswax candles. The sculpture itself is not a candle but utilises the translucent beauty of beeswax whilst celebrating the iconic Dom Perignon bottle. Anyway, finally this year I fulfilled my dream of visiting the abbey where Dom Perignon lived (and the caves where Dom Perignon is now made and matured). As it turns out, Rocco (Wine Director at Vue de Monde) told them I was someone important and I was given the royal, VIP treatment. A more worthy person would just take in their stride... I kept on pinching myself! Wanting to share it, I felt that the images alone were too static and didn't do it justice, so I put this little something together... escape to the Champagne region in France even if it is only for a couple of minutes. Goodness knows I've relived it many times in the past few weeks. Cate xx