Vine of the Times

What Would You Pay For A Bottle Of Champagne?

Ever since the gaff made by Frederic Rouzaud of Champagne Louis Roederer whose ambivalence  towards the success of his company's top brand 'Cristal' with African-American rappers was construed as racism by Jay-Z (quite famous rapper, apparently), and has been compared to 'doing a Ratner', other Champagne houses have been jostling for the top slot following the subsequent tarnishing of said Champagne. In the last few months we have seen a new release from Champagne Cattier called 'Armand de Brignac' which comes in gold bottle and solid pewter label and retails for $300 in the States and already endorsed by the rap elite, and just posted on the BBC's website is news of Perrier Jouet's plans to release a Super Cuvee which is set to retail at €1,000 per bottle.

The cynics amongst us are having a little sneer at this vinous machismo, but both are set to be huge successes. However, if you are interested in wine and not just the 'bling' we have in stock the new releases from 'Billecart-Salmon' and the incredibly rare 'Salon Le Mesnil'.

Wine Myths and the Perils of Being a Retailer

Having been in wine retail for 13 years, I am quite often entertained, and sometimes stupified by myths which have grown around wine. A memorable one was 'white wine never tastes the same when you dye it red'. Admittedly, that was a long time ago. Here are some more which amuse our tiny minds.

• 'The Germans Keep All Their Best Red Wines For Themselves': If there are indeed, any 'good' Germans reds at all, then I am pretty sure there is not some vast consipracy to conserve them for the domestic market.

• 'Greek Wines Don't Travel Well': I must confess, that I myself have enjoyed the vinous delights of the Greek Islands 'in situ', and upon bringing bottles back to the grey damp of the UK, have found them only fit for the drains. It is not the distance the wine has travelled, it was bad to start with. It is a combination of the sun, long evenings and thirst which makes them palatable.

• 'Cloudy Bay Is Very Limited And Very Hard To Get': No, this simply isn't true. They make ship loads of it. It is allocated as a 'reward' to supporters of Moet-Hennessey's (Cloudy Bay's parent company) other products, the vast majority of which do not appeal to fine wine buyers.

• Any Of The Following Do Not Automatically Make You A Wine Expert

1. Being French
2. Owing a house in France
3. Being a member of the Wine Society

Richard