Dom Pérignon is named for the seventeenth-century Benedictine cellar master at the Abbey of Hautvillers, who did not invent Champagne but did a great deal to improve it, particularly the art of blending.
The wine is made only in years the house considers worthy, and always as a vintage: there is no non-vintage Dom Pérignon. Each release is held on lees for at least seven years before disgorgement, and the results have defined what prestige cuvee means.