A nice restaurant we were at yesterday had an extensive vertical of Dom Perignon featured in their display Eurocave. One bottle caught my eye as something I hadn’t seen. Plain black label stating Vintage, but with no apparent year. What exactly is this?
They hAve undated empty bottles (corked and caged) at my grocery. Those are just for display to let you know you can ask for it. Aren’t the black bottles for P2?
Interesting! And perhaps there’s a back label that indicates the vintage inside? Or do we assume its a purchase for the occasion more than the product and it doesn’t really matter for the target audience?
The bottle in question was definitely full (I could see the fill level), so the “event bottle” theory sounds good to me. Since the restaurant is in the hotel we’re staying in, I’ll ask the sommelier if I get a chance.
With just one big bottle in inventory, a restaurant can readily charge more for a better or a specially requested vintage, no matter which it might be. Saves on guesswork.
If this is a full, regular ‘for sale’ DP and not a display bottle, it is a luminous bottle (there is a switch on the bottom that turns the label on and makes it light up/glow). The vintage is on the back label. Meant for night clubs, leaving the vintage off the light up label enables them to save a little money… and still charge more! There are various versions of the luminous bottlings. Some have vintage dates, some don’t, and some have more intricate DP shield details than others.