Question re 1990 Dom Perignon

WINE TALK
1

I’m looking at purchasing some 1990 DP locally through a private sale. The bottles come in their original case, with certificate included. However, when reviewing the labels, i few things struck me as odd. I’m hoping some of you more knowledgable in champagne would be able to share your thoughts on this, as i do not have much experience with Dom. I guess there’s always the chance that this was labeled differently for Canada/NA.

The things I’m questioning, when compared to other labels I found online

  • The addition of “Sparkling Wine” to the label
  • The alc% at 12.6, not 12.5
  • The “Epernay” on the left as opposed to the right hand side of the label

Any thoughts would be appreciated, thanks

2

my 1990’s do not say “sparkling wine” or “vin mousseaux”

mine also has “vintage 1990”, not just the year

mine has alc @ 12.5 instead of 12.6

3

4

Same for mine on each item…

5

Did you ask the seller any information on where these bottles came from?

6

I’m sure someone will chime in that really knows, but just doing a quick Google search, the term Vin Mousseux is used in France for sparkling wines NOT made in the Champagne region…

7

Thanks to the majority of you for the serious reply’s so far

They were apparently bought locally here in Vancouver on release, and have been stored by the buyer in his cellar since then. The thing is everything else looks perfect, the box was sealed with the proper looking sticker which I cut through and opened myself, certificate, bottle, foil, etc…just this label that looks suspicious.

8

My last bottle from this weekend says Champagne and 12,5%. However, since it was corked, I would have been better off with a bottle of sparkling wine.

9

I’d steer clear of these bottles. Maybe you can ask to open one to sample :wink:

10

I decided to take the pic you posted and compare it to another 1990 pic (http://www.rareaustralianwine.com/ebay/dom1990a.JPG" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;).

Here are the immediate differences I see:

  1. Obviously, as you stated already, the “Epernay” is on the right instead of the left.
  2. The word “France” is not on the shield.
  3. “Sparkling wine” and “Vin Mousseux” isn’t on the shield.
  4. The word “Vintage” is missing.
  5. Underneath the star, there is “12.5% ALC/VOL Approx. 7.4 Standard Drinks” in ALL CAPS. Your photo only has “12.6% alc./vol.” - notice the lower case and the “.” after the abbreviations
  6. “750ML” is in ALL CAPS and ABOVE the two branches while your pic has “ml” in lower case and in the middle of the branches.
  7. On the very bottom of the shield, it says on the left side: Champagne Moet & chandon. Yours say “Product of France”. On the left side, it says “Epernay France,” yours say “Produit de France”

Hope this helps!

11

The label appears to list “12,6 %”, not “12.6”. This leads me to think that this may have been labeled for a European market, or Hong Kong, or Singapore, or some other English speaking region, not NA.

A counterfeiter would presumably have taken more care to duplicate the NA label precisely.

Is there a back label or importer sticker on the case?

12

Not just different labels, but the big marques have different cuvees for different markets.

13

I’d be shocked if this were a fake. If you wanted to fake a bottle of wine you’d just copy the normal label, not make an obvious variant. I don’t know where this one might have come from, but a different label for a particular market/bottling run/etc. isn’t out of the question. (I’m sure Brad Baker will chime in at some point with the real explanation.) Also, if you’re faking a label and actually creating a different version as opposed to copying the real one, you’d have to be pretty damn talented in graphic design to pull off something as professional- and authentic-looking as this example. (And you’d probably label it '59 or something, instead of '90.)

14

Send the pic to Moet - they’ll tell you.

15

Keith,

You really should take a look at all of the “cuban” cigars sold in this country and then see what your thoughts are on this subject. It will be a real eye opener on fakes.

16

Thanks to everyone for their input so far, it is appreciated

That’s kind of what i was thinking. There is a back label, but no importer label anywhere on the bottle or case. Here’s the back of the bottle

And the sticker on the box




I sent an email to them a few days ago and have yet to hear back. I thought I’d throw the topic up here as well, in hopes a few of you would be familiar with this label

17

The back label looks much different than mine as well. Suspect for sure but I wouldn’t go as far as to say they’re fake. Guess it’s just a gamble at this point unless you hear otherwise from the source.

18

I don’t know anything about cigars or how they’re counterfeited, but this bottle does not strike me as consistent with what we know about how wine tends to be counterfeited. Looking forward to Moet’s answer. I’ll bet it’s legit.

19

I personally have no idea whether it’s legit or not. Some individuals that counterfeit cuban cigars go to extraordinary lengths to make their product appear authentic while still leaving inconsistencies.

20

Man, bad timing - this would have been a good question for Richard Geoffroy!