Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Visionary Thinking at Dom Perignon

KARL LAGERFELD © CHAMPAGNE MOET & CHANDON 2008

One of the most common traits of a market leader who is interested in sustaining dominance in his or her marketplace and also building a lasting personal brand, is visionary thinking. For those of you luxury real estate marketing professionals with this ambition it is wise to look to luxury brands that have stood the test of time and emulate the standards and the value that these brands embrace. Dom Perignon champagne is brand to emulate.

Dom Pérignon is part of LVMH (Moët Hennessy • Louis Vuitton S.A.) family of brands, one of the world’s largest luxury goods conglomerates. Dom is a vintage champagne. This means that the champagne is not produced in weak years, and all grapes used to make the wine were harvested in the same year.

When we lived in Napa Valley, we had the good fortune to sit next to chef de cave (head winemaker) of Dom Pérignon who happened to be dining alone. We struck up a delightful conversation throughout our meal.

What was most impressive about his Dom Pérignon stories was the fact that if the grapes are not perfect in a given year they simply will not produce the wine. In the 80 years between 1921 and 2002 for example, Dom Pérignon champagne has been produced in only 36 years. Three vintage years in a row are a rarity. This phenomenon only occurred two times: in 1969, 1970 and 1971, in 1998, 1999 and 2000.

CREATE THE “BEST WINE IN THE WORLD”, Pierre Pérignon, 1668.

In 1668, the young monk took up his post as the head of the cellar at the Abbey of Hautvillers . Over three centuries later, Dom Pérignon is the ultimate homage to this visionary spirit and to the founding work of the man who is considered the creator of champagne.

For fun, here some facts about this fabulous champagne:

In 1961, Dom Pérignon Vintage 1949 was on the menu for the dinner given at the US Embassy in Paris for Charles de Gaulle and John F. Kennedy during the American president’s official visit.
In 1981, Dom Pérignon was chosen for the wedding of Lady Diana Spencer and Prince Charles. The magnums of Dom Pérignon Vintage 1961 served at the wedding had a special insignia created just for the ceremony.
Today, Costo sells more Dom Pérignon than any other retailer in the world.