From Russian "Champansky" on 20th century, supersonic passenger jets, to the most up to date, 21st century, space flights by billionaire entrepreneurs, there's always going to be a reason to open a bottle of Champagne and, if you're in the mood to push the boat out, why not go for the ultimate?
For whatever reason, Monday just might be your choice of days. Just don't expect everyone to agree with you!
Don't think we've all been sitting too long outside in the 30°C sunshine, suffering heat-stroke, making us come up with such a crazy offer. No, no, no, we'd never do that. It would take a few jugs of Pimms to have that much effect.
Sorry to disappoint you all, but we're NOT actually giving away free bottles of Dom Pérignon Champagne on Monday, although you might just want to avail yourself of one (or two) of the greatest sparkling wines made anywhere in the world.
Frazier's have a handful of some rare bottles/magnums from Moet's prestige brand which are waiting to arrive in your own, personal ice bucket, anywhere in the UK.
What's the most famous blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir? Is it a still, or sparkling wine? You know the answer to both... it's Champagne!
The vast majority of wines are sold in the normal, perfectly usable 75cl format, but you can go bigger and better if you feel the need to impress your guests on a really memorable occasion.
A magnum (150cl) contains 12 glasses of wine, so that's 2 glasses each of Dom's 2009 deliciousness for six people (perfect), or just 1 glass each for twelve people which, for those following the news, will be doable very shortly. Plenty of fizz to go round for £369.
Wines aged in magnum take longer to reach their apogee, but the ageing is also different to that in a standard size bottle. It's all about the oxygen and wine interaction over time. For a fixed amount of wine the proportion of oxygen is less in the larger format bottle, hence the maturation is slower and the wine subsequently has more freshness of acidity and is more nuanced when compared to the standard 75cl bottle. You just have to give the wine enough time before drinking it.
These prestige wines are generally released when the "house" considers them ready to drink, but will still develop in bottle over many decades.
If you can't wait for your Champagne nirvana, Dom Pérignon has solved your dilemma by offering the "Plénitude" range. P1 is the youngest, normal vintage released at around 9 years; P2 is the intermediate stage at about 20 years, with P3 being the oldest "Oenotheque" vintages (from 25, up to possibly 50 years' old).
Like Bollinger RD, the point of difference is that the Plénitude wines are not disgorged until ready for release. The wine remains on its full yeast lees, in the same bottle as the second fermentation took place, for at least 20 years and gains greater intensity, vibrancy and preciseness. It's not the same as keeping a "standard" bottle for an extra 10 years in your cellar. The yeast sediment has already been removed (disgorged) from the bottle before you buy one of the "standard" release wines, so its flavour will always be subtly changed from the lees-aged Plénitude.
Try a 2002 Plénitude P2 for a "just right" taste. Only £325 each.
P3's venerable style can sometimes be too developed for people's taste and the price is outrageous... £4000 for a 1973, but Richard Geoffroy (former "Chef de Cave" for Dom Pérignon) considered it the ultimate experience for lovers of fine Champagne.
If only there was a '55 vintage... the one that James Bond had in the early films (before switching allegiance to Bolly). Perhaps he was really a KGB double agent all along? We'll never know.
Many consumers would consider a company's "prestige" wine to be an exclusive, limited edition made in minute quantities, but Dom Pérignon manages to make around 4 million bottles every year. Considering that a 75cl size of the "regular cuvée" retails for £150, that's a monumental turnover for a single deluxe brand! No wonder they want to associate themselves with celebrities and superstars.
2002 was a spectacular vintage in Champagne and for rosé, Dom Pérignon's effort was superb.
There's nothing wrong with admitting to liking rosé and, if £350 is within your budget for ONE bottle, go ahead with sampling a wine described by Antonio Galloni (in 2012) as having: "Huge voluptuous fruit... Layers of cool, insistent minerality... crystalline, vivid finish". Score? A mere 98/100 So, must do better, next time!
Acquire a beautiful bottle of '02 Dom Pink from Frazier's today.
"Are you gonna go my way?" Ask Lenny Kravitz, Creative Director at Dom Pérignon, for the special edition '06 wine.
Yes, that Lenny... the one with the rockin' guitar riffs!