Champagne Archives

Champagne Beau Joie announces a new partnership with fashion brand Marchesa

Champagne Beau Joie states this week that the partnership includes the release of 1,000 limited-edition “couture bottles”. The bottles, which are the first in the ‘Marchesa for Beau Joie’ series, will be hand-beaded and embroidered. They carry a price of US $599 per bottle.

The series will also include several new products that will be available through luxury retailers, hotels and high-end resorts, as well as through their website.

The bottles will be designed by Georgina Chapman, the creative director and co-founder of Marchesa, in collaboration with Brandis Deitelbaum, the founder of Beau Joie.

“Georgina and I were asking each other why there isn’t a Champagne brand that’s an extension of a fashion house, something for everyday occasions or served at special events. It’s such a natural fit, fashion and Champagne, yet nobody else has done this,” said Deitelbaum. “We both agreed there was a tremendous opportunity here for such a product, and so we decided to create it.”

Champagne Beau Joie website:

http://www.beaujoiechampagne.com/

Drake Launches 2008 Vintage Champagne

Having unveiled his first Mod Sélection Champagne in January this year, Canadian rapper Drake is now ending the year by launching two 2008 vintage expressions. Priced at US $480 and US $550 a bottle respectively is Mod Sélection Réserve Vintage 2008, and Mod Sélection Rosé Vintage 2008.

Mod Sélection Réserve is a blend of 10% Pinot Noir, 55% Meunier and 35% Chardonnay. According to the producer Maison Pierre Mignon, this wine has aromas of “rich, ripe fruit” with flavours of “orange peel, dried apricot, pineapple, brioche, nutmeg and clove” on the palate.

Mod Sélection Rosé Vintage 2008 is made using the saignée method and is a blend of 10% Pinot Noir, 50% Meunier and 40% Chardonnay. According to the producer it’s described as having a “deep-salmon hue” with “concentrated and complex fresh red fruit on the palate” with honey, ginger and sweet spice.

Commenting on the launch, founder and CEO of Mod Sélection Champagne, Brent Hocking, said: The attention to detail in every aspect of our production process is what sets this Champagne apart from all other 2008 vintages the industry has seen this year.

“We have purposely waited to release these special blends to ensure optimum quality and purity – and we believe they’re worth the wait.”

These releases mark the third and fourth product launches from the brand, following the launch of the Mod Réserve Champagne (US$300) and a Mod Rosé Champagne (US$400) earlier this year.

The new vintage Champagnes will be packaged in the brand’s brown metallic bottles and adorned with bronze detailing, made by craftsman from the Champagne region.

Champagne brand Mod Sélection operates in partnership with Champagne Pierre Mignon, a family-owned Champagne house based in Le Breuil in the Vallée de la Marne. The house has 16 hectares of vines, located in the Vallée de la Marne, Côte des Blancs, and Epernay.

Website: http://www.modselectionchampagne.com

Louis Roederer launches first biodynamic champagne

Louis Roederer has announced this week the release of its 2012 Cristal, the first to be made from 100% biodynamically farmed grapes. The house has been implementing biodynamics in its vineyards for the past 10 years and so far has converted 50% of their plots, while the remainder is 50% organic.

Louis Roederer has hailed the release as the “first-born from this new viticulture”. The 2012 vintage is a blend of 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay with a dosage of 7.5g/l.

The 2012 vintage was described in a statement as “one of the most challenging and complicated years ever experienced in Champagne”, and while yields were low, warmer weather towards the end of the season led to “unusual levels of maturity” and with that, “full-bodied and structured wines”.

Website: https://www.louis-roederer.com

Champagne Bollinger celebrates 40 year partnership with James Bond

Champagne Bollinger hosted an elaborate event at the Hôtel de Crillon, Paris today to mark the 40th anniversary of their partnership with 007.

To celebrate this anniversary, Michael G. Wilson, producer of the James Bond films, was joined by an exclusive list of invitees. The evening paid tribute to the shared history of the two brands dating back to 1979 when Champagne Bollinger become the official Champagne of Britain’s famous secret agent, upon the release of Moonraker. Commenting on the anniversary, Michael G. Wilson & Barbara Broccoli producers of the James Bond films proudly stated that the relationship is: “One of the great partnerships in cinema – forty years and counting”.

The occasion was marked with the global product launch of the ‘The Moonraker Luxury Limited Edition’, the latest product offering from Champagne Bollinger to commemorate the 40-year partnership. Guests were treated to the first taste of this 2007 vintage, set to a backdrop of a Moonraker image retrospective including sketches of the iconic space shuttle, created by legendary production designer Sir Ken Adam, which inspired the design of the latest collector’s item.

Champagne Bollinger Website:

https://www.champagne-bollinger.com

Celebrating 40 Years of Bollinger and James Bond

Champagne Bollinger is celebrating its 40th-year partnership with James Bond with a Limited Edition Millésimé 2011.

To mark the release of the upcoming movie No Time To Die, the 25th installment of the James Bond series, Bollinger has created a limited-edition dedicated to 007, with a 2011 vintage. The jet-black 75cl bottle is adorned with the number “25”, formed from the titles of the previous films, which are similarly etched on the glass of the wooden box. The 2011 vintage, created entirely from Pinot Noir from the Grand Cru village of Aÿ, where the House was first established in 1829. This is the first time that both the vintage and village have been used exclusively by Bollinger to make a dedicated wine. The 2011 harvest in Aÿ, produced complex, powerful and harmonious Pinot Noirs, fully expressed in this characterful wine.

Released by pre-sale on 5 October to mark James Bond Day, with an RRP of £150.

Tasting notes:

The decision to use Pinot Noir for this 2011 vintage, exclusively from the home village of Aÿ with its mighty fruit is nothing short of brilliant. Perhaps wait about ten years until the wine has reached its peak and completely integrated its enormous fruit with the barrel notes, but the wine is already magnificent with its deep ripe aroma of apples, backed by fresh wooden notes. House typical and powerful.

The first bottle of Bollinger appeared alongside 007 in 1979 with the release of Moonraker. Since then, the association has gone on to inspire numerous limited-edition bottles, with the Bollinger cooperage also home to a collection of vintage Bond posters.

Commenting on this milestone, Etienne Bizot, CEO of Société Jacques Bollinger, states: “It brings me an immense amount of pride to be celebrating 40 years of partnership between Bollinger and James Bond, it is a testament to the friendship started in 1979, between my father Christian Bizot and James Bond producer Cubby Broccoli. A friendship based on our shared values such as excellence and elegance.”