September 2012

The Champagne Bar: Nairobi’s First Rooftop Champagne Bar

Sankara Hotels & Resorts Nairobi pops the cork on the first rooftop Champagne bar in Nairobi this week. The Champagne Bar located on the seventh floor has panoramic city views and has a champagne list of over 30 champagnes by the glass including brut, rosé and prestige cuvee.

Champagne List highlights
Taittinger Reserve, Billecart Salmon Rose, Lanson Black Label, Pierre Jouet, Nicholas Feuillatte 1999 special, Krug, Dom Perignon, Veuve Clicquot and Moet et Chandon.
Oysters with a champagne velouté, cured Scottish salmon, tramezzo (lobster sandwich), truffles and designer macaroons are some of the delights on the canapé menu, which has been specially created to complement the extensive champagne offering.
The décor is modern with metallic tones and luxurious textures.
Liz Palmer
@Champagnehouses

Perrier-Jouët unveils “Belle Epoque Florale Edition by Makoto Azuma, the first designed Limited Edition of Belle Epoque since Emile Gallé in 1902

How does one pay homage to the heritage and craftsmanship of one of the world’s most refined luxury champagne brands, referencing the past, but also challenging aesthetic boundaries and generating enough visual impact to create something that is genuinely new and exciting? That was the formidable challenge facing floral artist extraordinaire Makoto Azuma, owner of Tokyo flower shop Jardins des Fleurs, when he was approached by the prestigious 200-year-old champagne house Perrier-Jouët to design the first ever limited-edition bottle for its Belle Époque prestige cuvée champagne.

The first designed Limited Edition of cuvee Belle Epoque, since the creation of its iconic anemones by Emile Gallé in 1902 was originally inspired by Japanese art culture, and has become the iconic image of Perrier-Jouët artistic heritage through its prestige cuvee. Challenging the aesthetic boundaries, Makoto Azuma created a unique combined artwork, made of a single delicate botanical arabesque dotted with white Japanese anemones. These recall the original 1902 design, which is further reinforced with a handcrafted motif of golden flowers on the bottle of Belle Epoque 2004, carefully selected by Cellar Master Hervé Deschamps.

The artist explains: “I wanted to make something extraordinary, taking inspiration from the sensation of champagne inside the mouth, and the delicate movement of the ivy and leaves with a special attention and tribute given to Emile Gallé’s anemones”.

Commissioning Japanese artist Makoto Azuma came as a natural choice for Perrier-Jouët; Emile Gallé chose white Japanese anemones for its original design in 1902 because of his passion for botany but also his admiration for Japanese art that draws inspiration from the primal force of nature, the true spirit of the Art Nouveau movement.

Lionel Breton, Chairman & CEO Martell Mumm Perrier-Jouët explained: “Makoto Azuma and Perrier-Jouët share the same values of tradition, passion for Nature, and genuine originality and we are delighted to have found in M. Azuma the Emile Gallé of modern times through his unique creation”

From the specific choice of flowers, to the endless series of adjustments and motif on the bottle itself, Belle Epoque Florale Edition perfectly expresses the luxurious and craftsmanship cues of Perrier-Jouët, whilst delivering a contemporary vision of beauty.

Perrier-Jouët Belle Epoque Florale Edition will be available only in very limited quantities worldwide from September onwards, in the most exclusive outlets in Perrier-Jouët main distribution markets at an average RSP of 300 euros.

Laurent-Perrier launches limited release prestige cuvée in London

Laurent-Perrier launched a limited release prestige cuvée in London last night to celebrate their bicentenary.

A magnum of Grand Siècle Reserve was poured at Claridge’s during the Champagne launch.

The Grand Siècle Les Reserves, multi-vintage blend has been bottled in only magnums and jeroboams and incorporates wines from the 1990, 1993 and 1995 harvests.

Poured for the first time at the Claridge’s Hotel at an intimate event comprising of longstanding customers and “friends” of Laurent-Perrier, including celebrity gardener Alan Titchmarsh. The new prestige cuvée is on allocation, although production figures aren’t being disclosed.

“Despite the ripe nature of the 1990 vintage and the age of the base wines, the Champagne has a surprisingly youthful and fresh character which can be partly ascribed to the fact the blend was disgorged just three months ago”, according to David Hesketh MW, managing director of Laurent-Perrier UK.

“We wanted to demonstrate the lightness and freshness of Laurent-Perrier, even with our older Champagnes,” he explained.

Jeroboams will be sold exclusively in Selfridges UK, and will, in a first for the Champagne house, be disgorged to order.

Source: Drinks Business

Raffles Hotel celebrates 125 years with Champagne Sling

In celebration of its 125^th year, the iconic Long Bar at Raffles Hotel, Singapore has created a new Champagne Sling called the ‘1887’.

Not your standard tipple, the 1887 is a subtle twist on the traditional sling with a base of Billecart-Salmon Brut Réserve Champagne. The recipe for this high precision cocktail is a closely guarded secret, but its creator, Randolf Velasco, reveals that Gordons Gin, Cointreau and essence of orange, lemon and lime all play a key role.

The utterly indulgent anniversary sling is available from September exclusively at Raffles hotels worldwide, including Singapore, Raffles Beijing Hotel, Raffles Dubai and Le Royal Monceau, Raffles Paris.

It was 125 years ago in 1887 that Raffles Hotel first opened its doors and welcomed its first guests. Today, the hotel is virtually synonymous with Singapore, named after the city’s founder, Sir Stamford Raffles.

Throughout the years, the glamorous guest list has read like a Who’s Who of business tycoons and adventurers, politicians and movie stars, authors and writers – all of whom fed in to the stories and legends, both fact and fiction, which have added to the mystic of the hotel ever since.

The Singapore Sling is one such legend. Invented in 1915 by bartender Ngiam Tong Boon at Raffles Hotel, no visit to the city is complete without a stop in the fabled Long Bar to enjoy this great classic cocktail and – in the spirit of tradition – to toss a few peanut shells on the bar floor.

Liz Palmer
@champagnehouses

TNS Report predicts glittering future for Champagne and sparkling wines

It may seem surprising that in these times of economic doom and gloom consumers should be increasing the amount of sparkling wines and Champagne they drink but according to new research by TNS that’s exactly what’s happening.

Based on an independent global survey of over 39,000 people in 17 markets – the Commitment Economy – TNS says that despite the challenging economic environment, consumers are still keen to indulge their taste for the finer things in life. A combination of increased spending among current sparkling wine drinkers and new drinkers in the developing world is presenting wine producers with an opportunity to grow the category by enticing consumers away from traditional alcohol favorites.

Pricing still remains an issue. TNS’s modeling exercise found that Champagne and other sparkling wines could increase their overall share of total drinking occasions from 5.1 percent to 7.8 percent if all those who wanted to drink them were able to. “While we can see a huge worldwide appetite to drink more sparkling wine and Champagne, most people are still held back by cost. These drinks are perceived as indulgences, enjoyed mainly on special occasions,” said Jan Hofmeyr, chief researcher, Behavior Change, at TNS. He added however “the good news for winemakers is that people consider sparkling wines both taste better and offer greater enjoyment than other alcoholic drinks. So, if affordable sparkling wines can be made more accessible, particularly in developing markets, and be positioned as a drink for celebrating life rather than only special occasions, the sector has a sparkling future.”

The greatest growth is likely to come from India and China, says TNS, where current low shares of 0.4 and 0.7 percent could quadruple to 1.9 and 2.5 percent respectively. In more mature markets like the UK and US the share could nearly double, to 9.1 and 6.5 percent respectively. Of all the markets studied, Spain was the only one where consumption of sparkling wines is set to decline, with a potential 0.4 percent drop in market share. However, TNS believes that with increasing international demand, cava producers need not fear if their distribution model is right.

Elsewhere, sparkling wine and Champagne consumption is expected to jump by 4.2 percent in Brazil, off a current market share of 3.5 percent, by 5.4 percent in Nigeria where the current share is also fairly low at 3.6 percent, and by 4.2 percent in South Africa (2.4 percent). Off a much more significant base (12.5 percent), the category is expected to continue to rise (+2.2 percent) in France, Germany (+1.9 percent/9.9 percent), Russia (+2.9 percent/8.1 percent) and Australia (+1.7 percent/7.6 percent).

“The study does not indicate that consumers plan to increase their alcohol consumption overall, more that they would like to drink sparkling wines more regularly,” Hofmeyr pointed out.

Source: LA JOURNEE VINICOLE EDITION N°316