Not a single drink on Earth can accurately and tangibly convey a sense of triumph and romance like an uncorked bottle of champagne. It is impossible to convey the feeling of euphoria that begins with the rapid departure of the cork, accompanied by festive spray of foam, comparable to the eruption of Vesuvius.
Along with any wine, champagne has its own history, value and prestige, sufficient to occupy a worthy place at the dinner table of monarchs, celebrities and business magnates from any corner of our planet. Thanks to the patented name, we will include in this list the best bottles of champagne that were made in the French Champagne region. On the eve of the New Year, it's time to prepare for his meeting, having prepared a bottle of beautiful champagne, giving joy to everyone around!
10 best and most exclusive champagne bottles:
10
Wine House - Pol Roger, Name - Sir Winston Churchill
The release of this prestigious cuvé from the Pol Roger wine house dates back to 1984. Champagne is named after Sir Winston Churchill, who was a loyal fan of champagne of this brand and personally was friends with the company's management.
Churchill ordered the first bottle of a vintage cuvé of 1895 in 1908, after which until his death, he did not cheat on him, choosing as his everyday drink. He was so addicted to champagne Pol Roger that during one of the wars he quoted Napoleon, said "you deserve it in victory, you need it in defeat."
His love of champagne sparkled with new colors in 1944, after a ball at the British Embassy dedicated to the Day of Remembrance of the Fallen. On it, he met the charming and elegant head of the Odette Paul Roger wine house, which fascinated him with his manners and refined taste. After this meeting, every year she sent Churchill a box of his favorite champagne for his birthday.
Surprisingly, the former Prime Minister of Great Britain drank about 500 boxes of champagne over the last 10 years of his life. After the death of Winston Churchill, all Pol Roger bottles intended for export to Britain were made with a black border around the label.
Cuvé Sir Winston Churchill has a unique taste with rich shades that reflect the charm and style of one of the greatest politicians of the XX century, in whose honor champagne is named. The average cost of one bottle is about $ 215.
9
Wine House - Moet & Chandon, name - DomPerignon White Gold
If you want to impress your friends, relatives or business partners, it's time to order a bottle of Dom Perignon White Gold from the Moet & Chandon wine house. The sheer cost of this three-liter cuvette bottle is not in the wine itself, but in the processing of the container with white gold.
Vintage edition, dating from 1995, has a total of 100 copies. They can be purchased in the UK capital at Harrods “just” for $ 12,000. This bottle is four times the size of a standard cuvée from House Perignon, which costs about $ 150.
8
Wine House - Grug, name - Clos d’Ambonnay
Elite wine house Krug introduced this bottle of champagne in 2008. The value of the prestigious cuvée is that the wine is made from a particular grape variety of one year's harvest, which was collected in only one vineyard.
Despite the fact that Krug already produced a similar Clos du Mesnil champagne in 1979, based on the same technologies, it is not considered vintage, it makes up 50% of all sales of the company.
As the name implies, the cuvée is named after a small vineyard in the vicinity of Reims, whose area is only slightly more than 0.5 hectares. The rarity and prestige of champagne is emphasized by its “circulation”; only 3,000 bottles have been created. Of course, it will not become your everyday drink, as the cost of one copy is $ 2,500.
It is worth noting that Clos d’Ambonnay is the only Krug cuvée that is 100% made from Pinot Noir grapes. The Ambonnay vineyard was bought back by the owners of Krug back in 1984, however, they kept the acquisition of the land secret, which they only discovered in 2004, presenting the prestigious cuvé from the 1995 crop.
7
Wine house - Perrier-Jouёt, name - Belle Epoque
The company offered its customers a one-time promotion, which did not dare any wine house. A hundred influential buyers gathered around the world were solemnly invited to the head office of the company to jointly develop an exclusive cuvé, which will be created exclusively to their taste.
Visitors were taken to the premises of the master Herve Deschamps, where they experimented a lot to create the perfect drink. After the work on creating taste was completed, the prestigious artist Emil Galle developed a sketch of bottles and labels, and the creations themselves were placed in the basement of Maison, giving them the best place for aging. After several years of storage, the champagne was “broken” into sets and sold. Each copy cost customers $ 50,000.
6
Wine House - Krug, name - 1928
In 2009, a 750-milliliter bottle of this vintage cuvé was exhibited at a Hong Kong auction. She was removed from the collection of the Krug wine house specifically for sale. The buyer was found almost immediately, paying a fabulous $ 21,200. To understand the value and prestige of 1928 champagne, it is worth quoting Serena Sutcliffe, who is the head of the Sotheby wine department. She stated: "Krug 1928 is without a doubt one of the most prestigious cuvettes ever created by humanity."
So that you can understand how much the cost of this champagne has increased, it is worth saying that 5 years before the described auction, another 1928 was sold for just over $ 2,000 (the bottle was personally signed by the two owners of the company).
Joseph Krug, who developed this sparkling wine, considers it the crown of his work. He was served at the table of King George VI during a ceremony marking the celebration of victory in World War II, and was also presented at a Swedish tasting on the occasion of the Millennium.
5
Wine House - Louis Roederer, Title - 1990 Cristal Brut
Well, who does not know Cristal champagne, considered the most prestigious among the stars of overseas show business? The most interesting thing is that interest in him was riveted not so much on the history of the appearance of taste itself, but on the history of the appearance of the bottle.
Historians claim that the emperor of the Russian Empire Alexander II became the “godfather” of Kristalstal. Due to the unstable political situation in the country, the emperor was afraid of a coup and an attempt on his life, therefore he was suspicious of dark glass bottles, explaining this by the possibility of hiding the murder weapon inside.
To get out of the situation, the Flemish craftsman invented a bottle with a flat bottom made of special crystal containing lead, which withstood the pressure of champagne gases in a bottle of such an unusual shape. Of course, the color of the glass was transparent, for which the cuvé was called Cristal.
Since then, this brand of champagne is considered royal, and its volumes sometimes reach truly huge. So, a little more than 10 years ago, at a auction in New York, a bottle of Cristal was sold, whose volume was 8 times higher than the standard. Its cost was almost $ 19,000.
4
Wine House - Heidsieck, name - 1907 Diamant Bleu
This cuvée has a history that many vintage champagne bottles can envy. A Swedish ship loaded with perfumes and champagne set sail from Gavle during World War I to deliver cargo to the Russian Emperor Nicholas II, but was thrown to the bottom by torpedoes of a German U-22 submarine. It was 1916 in the courtyard and the ship, along with the boxes of the prestigious cuvée, “rested” at a considerable depth (more than 50 meters) for many years.
One can only dream of such storage conditions, which is to say about aging, which amounted to more than 80 years. 2,000 bottles of rare champagne were found at the end of the 20th century by divers from Sweden. They decided to celebrate the find with the same drink, uncorking several bottles, the divers were delighted, the cuvée retained an amazing taste, without losing their quality.
The entire batch was sold at various auctions at an average price of $ 3,700. This brand of sparkling wine is the crown of the collection of many collectors.
Since we mentioned divers, we are obliged to invite you to read an article about the most popular underwater volcanoes for diving, published on our site most-beauty.ru.
3
Wine House - Juglar, name - Ca. 1820
And again, the Swedish divers are the main characters in the discovery of expensive champagne. About 10 years ago, they lifted 168 bottles of a vintage cuvé from the bottom, which were stored in the waters of the Baltic Sea at a depth of more than 50 meters.
It was not possible to establish the name and the wine house, because the labels were too damaged during the time under water. However, it is known for sure that the date of release of champagne dates back to the beginning of the 19th century. The bottles lay on the bottom for about 150 years, being exposed in the dark and cold. During the tasting, the gourmet's surprise knew no bounds - the cuvée retained excellent taste.
A closer examination of the find made it possible to identify three bottles in the collection that belong to the notorious wine house of the Widow Clicquot. The remaining copies were the creation of the company Juglar, which ended its existence. The estimated price of one bottle at the auction will exceed $ 60,000.
2
Wine house - Perrier-Jouёt, name - 1825
In the cellars of this wine house at a depth of more than 20 meters, the world's largest collection of sparkling wines is stored. There are specimens dating from the first half of the 19th century, which the company management has specially preserved.
At the end of the first decade of the 21st century, 12 of the world's best wine tasters were allowed into the cellar to uncork one bottle each. One of them turned out to be the oldest cuvé created in 1825. Only three bottles of this vintage champagne have survived to this day.
The honor of uncorking the bottle was given to Herve Deschamps, who treated the tasters with a precious drink. Masters found it tastes great, emphasizing notes of caramel and truffles, although they noted that a significant part of the gas was lost over the years. On that day, bottles of 1846 and 1874 were also uncorked, the last “exhibit” was preserved in perfection.
1
Wine House - Veuve Clicquot, name - 1893
In mid-2008, a locksmith from Scotland made an amazing find. He was called by Chris James to be the owner of one of the castles to open an exhibit of antique furniture.
When the door succumbed, there was an amazing find behind it - several bottles of exclusive alcohol, among which the widow of Clicquot of the 1893 crop was given a special place. The condition of the bottle was just perfect, including the yellow label known throughout the world.
By filling the buffet, it became clear that he had not been unlocked since the end of the 19th century. Turning to Grand Marque Champagne, James found out that in the world there is no longer the same bottle of prestigious cuvée. For this reason, it is considered the exclusive and most expensive in the world. You can look at her in Reims, where she is on display at the Veuve Clicquot wine house.
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Summary
So our list of exclusive champagne bottles has come to an end. It is unlikely that among our readers there will be those people who have tried something from it, but the editors of most-beauty.ru offer you to compile a national rating of the best champagne. Write in the comments which champagne is best for your taste.