Dom Perignon 1961

It isn’t easy to find pristine examples of the 1961 Dom Pérignon from the original disgorgment, and many bottles are getting a little long in the tooth, but this has the potential to be an absolutely magical old Champagne. Soaring from the glass with a deep and complex bouquet of toasted nuts, honeycomb, dried fruits, ripe peach and mocha, this bottle—from a cold French cellar—was full-bodied, textural and enveloping, with superb depth at the core, racy acids and chalky back-end grip on the long, resonant finish. The 1961 Dom Pérignon ranks as one of René Philipponnat’s greatest hits during his time as Moët’s chef des caves.