What Ballers Are Drinking Tonight: Moët's $6200 Luxury Leopard Methuselah Of Rosé Champagne.

As you're toasting the new year tonight with your $20 bottle of champagne from the local liquor outlet, the hip crowd at the most exclusive night clubs and a select number of the elite (or perhaps, extravagant) will be sipping something from a bottle they don't dare to trash once it's empty.



Moët & Chandon Nectar Rose has presented 60 huge fancy schmancy bottles of bubbly - the Luxury Leopard Methuselah: a six liter bottle (the equivalent of eight regular sized bottles) hand-decorated with 22 carat gold leaf.



The majestic six-liter bottle of Moët & Chandon Nectar Impérial Rosé Leopard Luxury Edition's exterior is finely covered in a luxurious layer of 22 carat golden leaves, delicately adorned with the design of the leopard's noble rosettes:



For this new coat, Moët & Chandon called upon the expertise of renowned French jewelers and engravers Arthus-Bertrand.



Only 60 bottles were produced worldwide, a rarity available only in the most select nightclubs or through Sherry-Lehmann Wine & Spirits in New York for $6,200.



Moët Nectar Impérial Rosé distinguishes itself by its extravagant fruitiness and delightfully crisp finish. The refined and sophisticated richness of Nectar Impérial Rosé is a champagne crafted to please the senses.


Moet & Chandon

Price $6200 USD
Buy it here 

Whatever you're drinking, here's to a Happy 2014 with love from If It's Hip, It's Here.

Champagne Cooler With Branches To Hold The Bubbly. The Enchanting Tree for Perrier Jouet Champagne by Tord Boontje.

As part of its artistic heritage, Perrier-Jouët continues its tradition of supporting and collaborating with artists and designers. This year the brand unveiled "The Enchanting Tree", a creation that reinvents the gesture of champagne.



Six participants can pluck a flute of Perrier-Jouët’s Belle Epoque cuvee from the tree designed by Tord Boontje. At its base, an ice bucket preserves the champagne’s coolness. Perrier-Jouët and Tord Boontje collaboration is rooted in a shared appreciation of Nature, Art Nouveau & craftsmanship.



Inspired by Nature as an inexhaustible source of inspiration, the designer has reinterpreted nature light-heartedly to create a fairytale in honour of spring, with floral forms flowing through a golden hand-worked tree.




With his hand-worked metal branches, the leaves soldered one by one, the anemones lacquered in white; Tord Boontje has reinvented the tasting ritual to create a decidedly Perrier-Jouët moment.





In 1902, a spray of Japanese anemones designed by Emile Gallé heralded the emergence of an artistic movement, Art Nouveau, symbolic of a yearning to which Perrier-Jouët has always remained true:


Inspired by those iconic swirling anemones, Tord Boontje designed a fluid and flowing tree, a plant sculpture with anemones and champagne flutes for blossoms. Suspended in mid-air in order to maintain the coolness of the champagne, they bathe the golden branches in light, reflecting the pearly drops of water on the ice bucket below. A refined and resolutely modern Perrier-Jouët creation, lending a hint of the sublime to the tasting of a Belle Epoque cuvée.



Tord Boontje, an artist born in 1968 in the Netherlands, studied industrial design at the Design Academy in Eindhoven (1986-1991) then at the Royal College of Art in London (1992-1994), before founding his own design studio in 1996 in London. He draws inspiration from nature and incessantly explores the relationship between nature and technology: the association with Perrier-Jouët was thus a marriage made in heaven. "My ideas come to me while strolling in the forest and observing the way light and nature interact" explains the designer, who refuses to link modernism and minimalism.

Perrier Jouet

photos courtesy of Perrier Jouet, The Wine Sleuth  and Cocorosa

Goût de Diamants' One Off Champagne Bottle With 19 Carat Diamond and The Limited Edition Salmanazar Bottle of Bubbly.

Prodiguer Brands enlisted the help of luxury designer Alexander Amosu to help them create the world's most expensive champagne bottle for their luxury bubbly, Goût de Diamants (Taste of Diamonds) which launched in 2006.




Mr Amosu hand crafted the packaging from 18ct solid white gold weighing approximately 48gsm of solid gold centered by a single flawless deep cut white diamond weighing 19cts. The label is also handmade in 18ct solid gold and weighs approximately 36gsm, handcrafted and engraved with the client's name (unknown). The bottle is valued at almost 2 million dollars; $1,867,000.00 USD  or £1.2m


above: Alexander Amosu's instagram photo of the empty Goût de Diamants £1.2m bottle

Commenting on the design, Alexander Amosu said: "The bottle already has a distinctive look with its natural design, all I had to do is bring it to the next level of ultimate luxury."




The Goût de Diamants everyday bottles are hand-finished by a single craftsman with over 40 years experience. The Bottles for each of the four vintages come with a hand-applied pure pewter engraved label set with a brilliant cut Swarovski Crystal (The Rosé crystal is appropriately pink and the Brut, blue.).




In house, Shammi Shinh, said: "We wanted to take it one step further and create a one off masterpiece for one of our private wealthy clients and we are very pleased with the results."

The Limited Edition Salamanazar Bottle:


That's not the only special bottle for this bubbly, which is only available to the trade. They have also announced the exclusive release of their limited-edition 9-litre Salamanazar.

A delicious naturally aged Brut cuvée is bottled within. Each stunning bottle takes over 100 man hours and is completely hand finished by our very own master craftsman. An array of beautiful diamond cut Swarovski stones have been used to create this masterpiece.



This is the first limited-edition bottle ever released by Goût de Diamants, making it the ultimate celebration gift. Only 10 bottles exist worldwide.

About The Champagne
Not just a pretty bottle, Goût de Diamants Champagne was awarded the ‘Champagne Best Taste 2012′ by Champagne Business News.



Goût de Diamants is a handmade luxury champagne from the Chapuy family run estate in the beautiful village of Oger, France, made with 100% rated Grand Cru grapes.

The Goût de Diamants Prestige Cuvées
Brut Diamond:

Rosé Exquisite:

Blanc de Blancs Diamond:

Vintage Diamond:


Even their high grade corks that are so sophisticated they have a patented composition:



Goût de Diamants Champagne cannot be purchased in liquor stores, but is now stocked in several high end bars, clubs, hotels and restaurants in over 10 different global locations, from the UK to Africa to Dubai.


Goût de Diamants Champagne

Bizarre Bottles of Bubbly. 43 Artist Designed Bottles of Zarb Champagne.

(each of the above bottles are shown individually in this post, just keep reading)

Chances are you celebrated the ringing in of 2013 with some sort of Champagne or sparkling wine as is the tradition. But I'm willing to bet the bottles weren't as cool as these. Zarb was launched as a new brand of champagne in 2009. The brand takes its name from the French slang word for ‘bizarre’. Zarb, then, is no traditional champagne brand, but rather traditional champagne with an unconventional look, based on an unconventional idea. Zarb breaks with the outward clichés of traditional champagne bottles and is available in collections of fashionable bottles made by internationally acclaimed artists.

The Zarb Champagne Design Collection (Bottles available for purchase):

Angels:

Belly Button:

Hope:

Octopus:

Lips:

Delft:

Surface (mermaid):

and the Classic Black Bottle:

Buy Zarb Design Bottles here.

The Zarb Champagne Art Collection (These are not for sale):

Snow:

Beach:

EdhV:

Fire Extinguisher:

Fragile:

Bird Bones:

Corset:

Golf:

Hansje:

Hope 2:

Nepco:

Rocket:

Camera:

Diewertje:

Floral:

Funeral:

Miktor and Molf:

Tjep:


A look at the Zarb Art Bottles exhibited at The Joyce Gallery Palais Royal in Paris last year:


















all images courtesy of Zarb Champagne

About the Champagne


Zarb Champagne is produced for Zarb by the Baron family in the village of Charly-Sur-Marne, in the western side of the Champagne region.

The grapes used in the blends are grown on a 38-hectare stretch of land with the best vineyards in this part of Champagne, owned by the Baron family.

Zarb Champagne is dominated by the Meunier (55%), bringing fruitiness and delicacy to the cuveé, blended with the finesse of the Chardonnay (30%) and the strength of the Pinot Noir (15%).

Zarb rests on the lees for 36 months, which is much more than the minimum requirement of 15 months, and gives Zarb its refined bubbles. The production process is carefully controlled and technically advanced under a constant temperature of 12 ̊C.

This all contributes to Zarb’s modern, fruity taste that appeals to a broad audience.

BLEND
30% Chardonnay - 55% Meunier - 15% Pinot Noir

CELLARS
Second Fermentation at 12°C,
Stocking on lies at 12°C,
Stocking after discorching at 12°C (3-6 months minimum), Riddling 100% on gyropalette,
Stock capacity: 4000 m2

WINERY
Pressing Unit Quality Agreed, Winery Capacity : 19 000 Hl Alcoholic Fermentation: 16°C Malolactic Fermentation: 20°C No collage, filtration, Tartaric Stabilisation of all wine, Matured in vats at 12°C.

VINEYARDS
Own vineyards:
38 Ha + buying grapes in the area around Charly
Soil: chalky-clayey soil
Best sites overlooking the River Marne
Grand Cru grapes from the mountains of Reims and Côte des Blanc

HISTORY
1961: Vineyards of 1-hectare vineyard
1967: Creation of company
1991-1992: Creation of a new 2100m2 cellar and production unit 2000: Extension of the stockage cellar : + 2000 m2
2001: Extension of the winery : + 3000 hl
2005: Extension of the winery : + 5300 hl
+ one 12 000 kg press

Currently, orders at Zarb Champagne can only be delivered in the European Union. Please find below the rates per parcel (maximum 18 bottles in the European Union) and the shipping lead time per country of destination.

Zarb Champagne