Cover Left to right: Solange Knowles, Tilda Swinton and Alexa Chung attend Dom Pérignon Révélations 2026 at Guggenheim Bilbao (Photo by Pierre Mouton/Getty Images for Dom Pérignon)
Left to right: Solange Knowles, Tilda Swinton and Alexa Chung attend Dom Pérignon Révélations 2026 at Guggenheim Bilbao (Photo by Pierre Mouton/Getty Images for Dom Pérignon)
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Dom Pérignon's Révélations 2026 in Bilbao paired actor Tilda Swinton’s silent performance with Vincent Chaperon’s first solo vintage, proving that great champagne is as much about where it comes from as who makes it
For two nights in early June, the titanium atrium of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao became the stage for something unusual. Scottish actor Tilda Swinton stood barefoot, as attendants dressed and undressed her in a sequence of plain garments. A robe rendered her regal; an apron transformed her into a butcher. Each costume shifted her posture, her expression, her identity. This was House of Gestures, a performance co-created with curator and fashion historian Olivier Saillard, and which formed the centrepiece of Dom Pérignon’s annual Révélations event.
The audience, which included musician Solange Knowles, presenter Alexa Chung and actor Tom Blyth, watched in reverent silence. Swinton moved quietly, exploring the relationship between body, garment and presence. “With performance, we like to create a free zone where something honest and original can occur,” she said afterwards. “A great champagne has much in common with this idea. Both are rooted in space and authentic presence, not representation or interpretation.”
Earlier that day, a different dialogue unfolded at the Carreras Mugica gallery. Vincent Chaperon, Dom Pérignon’s chef de cave since 2018, sat opposite French artist Claudine Drai for a conversation about place. Drai said, “Place is a space in which essence is determined by a structure that maintains the right relation between its elements.” During this talk, Chaperon also spoke of the vineyard’s permanent expression: “Beyond grape variety and the year’s climate, what remains permanently within the expression of the vine is the place.”
Above The experience took place inside the Guggenheim in Bilbao, Spain (Photo: Dom Pérignon)
Above The audience watched the silent performance inside the museum (Photo: Dom Pérignon)
The experience took place inside the Guggenheim in Bilbao, Spain (Photo: Dom Pérignon)
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The choice of Bilbao was deliberate. Jacques Giraco, the house’s general manager, explained, “We wanted a space connected to the art world, as we had with the Tate Modern in London last year. The Guggenheim felt right immediately. There is a tension in [Frank] Gehry’s architecture between the organic and the structure, and that tension is very Dom Pérignon.” Chaperon adds, “Beyond the museum, there is the deep culture of the Basque Country. Place is the building, yes, but it is also the people, the culture you feel as soon as you arrive. It’s very strong, very deep-rooted.”
The tasting that followed was the evening’s quiet revelation: Dom Pérignon Vintage 2018, the first vintage entirely shaped by Chaperon since the handover from Richard Geoffroy in 2019. “It's really part of the mystery of our job,” Chaperon explains. “You know it’s ready because you have been following the wine from the beginning, for nine years. It’s like a movie. If you arrive at a certain moment, you see the picture, but you don’t understand, because you need the beginning and the middle to understand the trajectory”.
Above The performance was co-created by Tilda Swinton and Olivier Saillard (Photo: Dom Pérignon)
The performance was co-created by Tilda Swinton and Olivier Saillard (Photo: Dom Pérignon)
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To understand the 2018, you must understand its predecessor. The 2017 vintage was, in Chaperon’s words, “the smallest blend we ever did”—only 15 per cent of a standard harvest, shaped by contrast and the struggle to balance ripeness against acidity. “[The] 2017 [vintage], for me, is really shaped by contrast,” Chaperon added. “Going back to the notion of architecture—angles, line, direction, perspective. The 2018 is the complete opposite. It’s about the envelope; the sensation of the wine is really the sensation of an embrace, an envelope which is creating a space.”
The 2018 vintage emerges from an exceptionally generous year in Champagne, with abundant sunshine, warm temperatures and consistent conditions across the region. “It was a year of quantity and quality,” Chaperon noted. “All the villages and plots gave beautiful results. We were able to have such a diversity that the assemblage process was really helped.” He describes the 2018 vintage as “seamless”—a term he embraces as “a Dom Pérignon word…It's the perfect integration of the assemblage.”
Above Vincent Chaperon and Jacques Giraco (Photo: JB Lacroix/Getty Images for Dom Perignon)
Vincent Chaperon and Jacques Giraco (Photo: JB Lacroix/Getty Images for Dom Perignon)
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The 2018 offers a silky, seamless texture with notes of ripe pineapple, candied citrus, jasmine and a refined toasted quality. The palate is broad and tactile, with remarkable length. Chaperon describes it as “broader, deeper and more tactile” than previous vintages. It is horizontal where 2017 was vertical, embracing where the earlier vintage was angular.
Above Alexa Chung (Photo: Pierre Mouton/Getty Images for Dom Pérignon)
Above Tom Blyth (Photo: Pierre Mouton/Getty Images for Dom Pérignon)
Alexa Chung (Photo: Pierre Mouton/Getty Images for Dom Pérignon)
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Eneko Atxa of Azurmendi, the region’s only three-Michelin-starred establishment, curated a dinner menu that opened with Vintage 2017 and an oyster with sea sponge and Iberian crispy ham. Then, Vintage 2008 Plénitude 2 was accompanied by brioche with tuna and piparra peppers, alongside a pepper tart with caviar.
The Vintage 2018 took centre stage with roasted and shelled lobster, its tartare wrapped in a legume jus and shell-butter air, accompanied by lobster ravioli and Basque-style fish soup. The Rosé Vintage 2010 closed the evening with tomato, strawberry and yoghurt. Atxa’s cooking, deeply rooted in Basque pastoral and maritime heritage, speaks directly to the relationship between identity, memory and terroir—the very themes explored throughout the day.
Chaperon, reflecting on Swinton’s performance, saw a deeper connection. “The performance really touched me; it moved me,” he said. “At the end, Tilda was looking up. In my interpretation, she was looking for the stars.” The legend has it that the maison’s namesake wine-making monk Dom Pierre Pérignon said, “I'm drinking the stars.” Chaperon added: “The stars represent desire, the ultimate desire. You want to drink it, fill yourself with it. Like Tilda’s performance, this concept is really linked to our Vintage 2018, my vintage, and my creative approach.”
Above Solange Knowles attends the dinner at Révélations 2026 (Photo: Dom Pérignon)
Above Tilda Swinton at the Révélations 2026 dinner (Photo: Dom Pérignon)
Solange Knowles attends the dinner at Révélations 2026 (Photo: Dom Pérignon)
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A storyteller by day and a first-class food devourer by night, Fontaine is the Regional Dining Editor at Tatler Asia, overseeing dining content across all regions and shaping the brand’s editorial voice on food, chefs and culinary culture.
She is also Content Lead for Tatler Best and Co-jury Head for Tatler Best Hong Kong and Macau, guiding the awards’ editorial direction and evaluation process. With over a decade in the lifestyle and media industry spanning London and Hong Kong, she brings a cross-regional perspective to the table.
Follow her on Instagram at @fontimes.
