The wine got immediate attention in the marketplace and 100 boxes of the 1921 vintage were shipped to the United States shortly thereafter, this time displaying the Dom Pérignon name.

The 17 bottles sold at an auction in Christie's in New York City in June 2004 were part of that order (Doris Duke, the billionaire's daughter, had kept them in her cellar).

[5] In 1971, the Shah of Iran ordered several bottles of the first vintage of Dom Pérignon Rosé (1959) for the 2,500-year celebration of the Persian Empire.

The magnums of Dom Pérignon Vintage 1961 served on that July 29 carried a special insignia created just for the ceremony.

[8] The earliest market release of a vintage is usually after 8-10 years for the standard champagne, with longer maturation times for special editions like the Second Plenitude or Œnotheque (see below).

Dom Pérignon choose the best grapes from any of the 17 Grands Crus, including the legendary Premier Cru, Hautvillers and it is released in three different maturation time periods called Plénitudes.

After close to 15 years of slow transformation in the cellars, the taste is, according to Dom Perignon, "wider, deeper, longer, more intense - and gifted further with an extended longevity.

Serena Sutcliffe comments: "With age, Dom Pérignon takes on a totally seductive fresh-toast-and-coffee bouquet, one of the most intriguing scents in Champagne.

A wave of auction price records started in 2004, with the sale of the Doris Duke collection at Christie's in New York City.

In 1971, it was served in Persepolis at the lavish festivities celebrating the 2500th anniversary of the founding of the Persian Empire by Cyrus the Great.