The Dom Perignon Mystery & Other Champagne Adventures

A while back, maybe a month or so ago, my in-laws asked Rey and I if we ever drank the bottle of Dom Perignon that they had given us. Rey and I looked at each other with puzzled looks. We told them that we never received a bottle of Dom Perignon. We would definitely remember that. They insisted that they had given us a bottle of Dom Perignon and we kept saying we never received it.

We showed them an autographed bottle of wine that they had given us for one of our anniversaries and that we did drink. We kept the bottle because it was signed by the wine maker. We told them that that was the only bottle they had ever given us.

Last night while visiting us, they brought up the topic again. They insisted that they gave us a bottle of Dom Perignon for either an anniversary, or before we went on a trip somewhere. We could not remember a bottle of Dom Perignon. Come on, let’s face it, if you received a bottle of that kind of champagne, you would remember.

Rey said, "The only other bottles you've ever given me are the two bottles of tequila that we're keeping for you."

"What two bottles?" his mother asked.

"The two bottles you asked me to keep for you a while back," Rey answered.

"I didn't give you two bottles. I only gave you one bottle," his mother replied, "Go look and see what you have."

So Rey went to the small closet under the staircase and pulled out the two cardboard boxes. Inside one of them was a bottle of Dom Perignon wrapped in newspaper dated October 2003! They gave us the bottle 4 1/2 years ago and we didn't even know it! Can you say, "BONUS!"

I think they gave us the bottles and didn't say anything about the bottle of champagne, thinking we would see it. That just goes to show we aren't that nosy because we didn't look in both boxes at the time. I just can't believe that it took them that long to ask us about it.

We had a really good laugh about it and it reminded us of another time when we received an expensive bottle of champagne and didn't even know it. That time it was on our honeymoon.
Rey and I went to Italy on our honeymoon, around 4 months after our wedding. I slept on most of the flight for two reasons. 1) I wasn’t feeling well and 2) I can sleep anywhere and I usually do if I’m tired.

Rey chatted with the flight attendant a lot and she knew we were on our honeymoon. When we got ready to land she told Rey that she had something to give us before we left but not to say anything. So before we left she slipped a bottle of champagne in our carry on bag. We looked at the bottle and thought it was such a pretty bottle with flowers on it.

We landed in Milan and by this time my cold had gone full blown. I was very sick by the time we landed and even though I’d slept, I felt jet lagged. Let’s just say I had to sleep for one full day when we got to Milan before I felt well enough to venture out. Poor Rey had to walk around and explore the area around our pensione without me. He came back with coffee and breakfast for me the next day after going out very early because he had already slept a lot.

Finally we ventured out together and did some sightseeing. We still didn’t drink the champagne because I was taking a lot of cold medication. One good piece of advice. Always carry a little first aid kit of cold medicine and other things you may need when traveling to Europe. Their pharmacy prices for over-the-counter, are a lot more expensive.

Anyway, back to the champagne. We carried the bottle with us on a train all the way to Rome. Finally in Rome in the Hotel Panda, in out tiny room on our tiny twin bed, we opened our bottle of champagne and drank it.

We went to several other places on our honeymoon, including Florence, Pompeii, and Venice. After 10 glorious days we returned back to the reality of home and Rey was grocery shopping when he came across bottles of champagne. He thought about that great champagne that we had enjoyed on our honeymoon and he looked for it on the shelf. He clearly remembered the bottle because it was so pretty. Imagine his surprise when he found out that our bottle of champagne, Perrier Jouet was more than $100!

That flight attendant had been very generous in her honeymoon gift to us. We felt sad that we hadn’t made a note of her name to send her a nice note later. Not only because her gift was $100 bottle of champagne, but because she had been so warm and friendly with us.

That was an important lesson to learn. Since then I always make a note when someone is kind. I need to do better and I need to make sure I send a nice note to the company when I have a good experience.