Tara Patel | Bloomberg Information (TNS)
The small French winemaker behind Jay-Z’s Champagne is laying the groundwork for the launch of one other luxurious model, aiming to duplicate the success of the rapper’s Armand de Brignac “Ace of Spades.”
Household-owned Maison Cattier has saved bottles to age in its cellars of what is going to be known as Champagne de Lossy, in line with Alexandre Cattier, the Thirteenth-generation head of the agency that traces its roots again to 1625. Gross sales are nonetheless at the very least a few years away, he mentioned.
But even at this early stage, promotion of the high-end label is gearing up. A bottle was featured inside a custom-built Rolls-Royce Droptail that prices upwards of $30 million and was unveiled in August in Carmel, California. Champagne de Lossy now additionally has an internet site and an Instagram web page.
“The model shall be much more unique than Armand de Brignac,” Cattier mentioned in a phone interview. “Gross sales shall be extra focused.”
He declined to supply particulars concerning the identification of his enterprise associate within the endeavor, saying solely that the proprietor of the Rolls-Royce needed a Champagne model to match the automobile’s darkish crimson end. Pictures present an opaque crimson bottle with a black and silver label.
Cattier’s plans for Champagne de Lossy are a part of a pattern for higher-end labels within the French area, with an rising quantity backed by celebrities. Along with Jay-Z’s Armand de Brignac, Brad Pitt has the Fleur de Miraval rose and Leonardo DiCaprio backs Champagne Telmont. Actor Morgan Freeman is selling Laurent-Perrier’s Grand-Siecle cuvee, whereas former NBA star Tony Parker reportedly invested in Champagne Jeeper.
Cattier shall be competing in a extra crowded market than in 2006 when it launched the Armand de Brignac model. First offered in opaque gold bottles and nicknamed the “Ace of Spades” for the form of the label, it was promoted by Jay-Z, who had began boycotting one other model known as Cristal.
The rapper finally acquired the Armand de Brignac model, though Cattier nonetheless makes the Champagne contained in the bottles. In 2021 Jay-Z offered a 50% stake to luxurious juggernaut LVMH. The Brut Gold model is listed by on-line distributors at round $400 a bottle.
The area east of Paris the place Champagne is produced has about 370 maisons and 16,200 grape growers. LVMH is the most important producer, proudly owning such manufacturers as Dom Perignon, Moet & Chandon, Ruinart and Veuve Clicquot.
Cattier, a minnow in contrast with LVMH when it comes to manufacturing, is predicated within the village of Chigny-les-Roses. That’s a few mile away from a grand manor known as Chateau de Rilly, the contours of that are featured on the “de Lossy” label.
The hyperlinks between the model, the chateau and the household date again round half a century, Cattier mentioned.
Within the Nineteen Seventies, his grandfather purchased buildings within the village of Rilly close to the chateau and the place Champagne de Lossy was initially produced. Whereas the model was handed on to a different producer on the time, it hasn’t been used for at the very least a decade. Cattier has now acquired it for a revival, he mentioned.
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