We love Champagne

Champagne Krug dinner at the Ritz

There is Champagne, and there is Krug! Since 1843, the Krug family has proudly cultivated the individual character of their exceptional Champagne which has been quietly redefined through six generations without a break. Krug’s founder, Johann-Joseph Krug, not only had the vision, but also the talent, to achieve his ambition of  producing a Champagne with a taste quite unlike any other.

The Ritz teams are delighted therefore to be able to present a Champagne Dinner at The Ritz together with the House of Krug and in honour of this special occasion, their Executive Chef John Williams has created a remarkable five course menu paired with some of the finest offerings from Champagne Krug.

 

The Krug Dinner (unfortunately sold out) will be held on Thursday 15th October in the magnificent 18th century surroundings of William Kent House, commencing with a Champagne and canapé reception in the Marie Antoinette Suite and followed by dinner in The Music Room. Monsieur Romain Brunot, the Krug Ambassador to the UK, will be on hand to advise how best to appreciate the differing styles of the wines which, combined with the culinary expertise of the Chef’s menu, promises a unique and memorable dining experience.

A blind tasting experience sponsored by Pol Roger Champagne House

Before me stand six unidentified red wines numbered 7 to 12.

Fortunately my flight from London was late so I have missed the whites, which I later find out were excruciatingly difficult, but still, the prospect of identifying each wine as closely as possible sends me into a mild panic.

Marks are awarded for the ability to identify grape varieties and to place the wines as close as possible to their origins. Additional marks are given for an intelligent explanation of how the tasters reached their conclusions.

   I’m late and time is short, so I run through the reds making shorthand mental notes: Burgundy, possibly Beaujolais, claret, Californian shiraz etc…In the end my performance isn’t bad but it’s hardly up to scratch. Blind tasting is, of course, the most terrifying and humbling experience any professional wine journalist can put themselves through. Success depends on having a startingly good palate memory or an encyclopaedic knowledge of the world’s wine-growing regions. It is, of course, preferable to have both.

But more often than not blind tasting is a humiliation waiting to happen. If there isn’t instant recognition, a laborious process of elimination is carried out which, in my case, usually leads to the wrong conclusion.

This particular match, sponsored by Pol Roger, has been held every year since 2005, inspired by a similar one between Oxford and Cambridge, which began in 1953. The format is simple. Each team has six students, plus a reserve whose score counts only if there’s a tie. Twelve unknown wines (six white and six red) have to be identified by their predominant grape variety, country of origin, main viticultural region and vintage, with comments required on how the answers are arrived at. There are 40 minutes on whites, a break, then 40 minutes on reds. Scores are judged by St Andrews alumni (Edinburgh).

 

Champagne is dressing up

There are few beverages so closely associated with wealth, power and allure than Champagne. A Champagne-tinged lifestyle is wrought with pretense, beauty, celebration and ease, at least in the minds of star-struck consumers.

Perhaps eager to support that image, several Champagne and Sparkling wine producers are positioning their product as an image drink, supported by increasingly outlandish and gimmicky packaging. In a critical time for the industry, high-end producers are doing their level best to position their product as the "it drink" for fashionistas.

Piper-Heidsieck began the trend when they released limited edition bottles of their Special Cuvee Champagne dressed in red pleather corsets designed by fashion icon Jean-Paul Gaultier. The bottle, priced at $100, "Created a trend for Champagne as a fashion accessory, allowing the brand to align more closely with this exciting world," said company spokesperson Peter Malachi. The company's press release for the special edition read closer to wine porn than a seriously crafted Champagne.

The promise, it turned out, was good for the business of selling Champagne. US sales, according to the company, were up 77 percent that year.

The actual Champagne, created by Daniel Thibault, a serious winemaker with several awards to back that up, was described as "a magical elixir”. Image is what's for sale in the competitive high-fashion world, and Piper-Heidsieck intends to make their product the center of it. The actual product inside the bottle is an afterthought. After all, how many people are actually going to drink it?

While Piper-Heidsieck is "red hot," Lanson is cool, cold and calculating. Lanson aims to be exclusive, with limited distribution and an unattainable price. The limited edition bottle was a featured display at New York's Bubble Lounge Champagne bar. The San Francisco Bubble Lounge never carried the product except for a recent private party. And your local wine shop? Forget about it.

But is there any fault in positioning a product far away from corn-fed Middle America? US sales of Champagne and Sparkling wine have been down significantly since the beginning of the Noughties.

Then again, not all producers have the desire to create that red-hot image. Some are quite content to be utterly boring. In an effort to reach out to those corn-fed Middle Americans the fashion world left behind, California's Korbel winery featured Kenny G on their bottles. The move positioned Korbel as far away from trendy and hip as can be imagined.

The Brut Rosé California Champagne bottle displayed a black, purple, yellow and blue saxophone image created by Kenny G. The musician has won a Grammy Award and is a constant on light rock radio stations. Korbel has consistently chosen middle-of-the-road artists popular in suburbia; singers Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra have been featured, as have actresses Jane Seymour and Whoopi Goldberg.

According to the company, Korbel is the best-selling premium methode champenoise -- produced sparkling wine in the United States. They have achieved this market status by associating themselves with average consumers, through their marketing and by their sponsorships. They’ve been the global sponsor of Times Square's New Year's Eve celebrations until 2007, have supplied four Presidential Inaugurations with bubbly and were an official supporter of the 2002 and 2004 U.S. Olympic Teams.

The image marketing supported by bottle dressings with designer labels is creating a niche market. That niche, and the models, designers and "beautiful people" supporting it could spell good times for the producers who have jumped on the bandwagon.

The world’s most expensive Champagne of all times

April 06, 2009 - ROME, ITALY - About 2,7 million people officially registered as Leon Verres Luxury Group customers, had to be patient for more than three years but finally the time has come. Leon Verres has created with "Le Billionaire Champagne" the most expensive and most exclusive Champagne of all times.

The 2,75 Mio. dollar Salmanazar-bottle of the "Le Billionaire Champagne"-series contains nine litres and is the most precious bottle of Champagne ever. A precious designer dress encases the bottle adorned with several hundred sparkling diamonds. A Russian fur cap, the so-called "Shapka", additionally underscores the czaristic glory of "Le Billionaire Champagne" and adds the Salmanazar-bottle of this series a breathtaking countenance. Leon Verres only placed five of these exclusive bottles of champagne on the market entitled "Piece of history" and thus actually made history. Billionaires from Russia, Dubai and China had already saved exemplars of the exclusive Champagne of Leon Verres, so that only one exemplar of the precious Salmanazar-bottles was left available. This final exemplar was presented to the world public. and auctioned for the benefit of a good cause.

But the others who have fallen for the "Le Billionaire Champagne" didn't leave empty-handed: Leon Verres created an alternative, just as luxurious and glamorous, the 0,75 l version of the "Le Billionaire Champagne". For 2.750 dollars partisans of Leon Verres received a miniature-edition of the most expensive Champagne of all times. As a matter of fact the Champagne of the 0,75 l bottle hailed from the same vintage like that in the 9 l Salmanazar-bottle. The removable designer dress, the impressive packing, as well as a multitude of valuable crystals provided an absolute identical countenance for this smaller version of the "Le Billionaire Champagne".

Tasters of well-known gourmet-magazines as well as famous celebrities confirmed the uniqueness of this "handiwork out of master touch". For them "Le Billionaire Champagne" represents the coronation of all that what luxury can denote.
Leon Verres Champagne does not tolerate any mainstream but is exclusively served in the most announced bars, clubs and restaurants of our time. All over the place where the exalted luxury-lifestyle is celebrated, also "Le Billionaire Champagne" of Leon Verres is at home.

Leon Verres says:
After years of hard work finally it is done! Finally I'm having my "Le Billionaire Champagne" in my hands and I am completely overwhelmed. Still a few years ago I would not have dared to dream of being the creator of the most expensive champagne of all times someday. Finally I could not even afford a bar of chocolate with taste of Champagne in former times. The international interest in my "Le Billionaire Champagne" however shows me that the perennial development work was worth it. Millions of people can't hardly wait to get to know this Champagne which typifies the ultimate luxury not to mention the unending orders which reach us despite this difficult time. To present one's luxury-products in times of sunshine and abundance is not really a great art. Now it remains to be seen who has got what it takes. Now heroes are born. I am very certain that the era of the small independent luxury-forges has begun while the concerns of luxury goods, having the expansion bug, will collapse like the old Roman Empire.