Champagne Legacy

This is likely the coolest wine thing I’ve seen in a while, so brace yourself.

In celebration of their Bi-centennial, Epernay, Champagne’s Perrier Jouët has released a series of legacy magnums containing the 1998 vintage of the Belle-Epoque sold in pairs – one for now, one for a future generation

That’s right, you drink one now, presumably with others, and the other will be left for a generation to come. The second bottle will be stored in Perrier-Jouët’s cellars in Champagne for up to 100 years – the heir to the bottle can, of course, retrieve the magnum before hand if desired. Herve Deschamps, Cellar Master, selected the 1998 vintage with its superior aging ability in mind in order to ensure the future generations will enjoy the wine as much, if not more so, than the original purchaser.

Each bottle is contained in a special packaging that is actually half of a specially made, rare sculpture designed by Daniel Arshem. The sculpture is made up of marble dust and resin and features a series of Perrier-Jouët’s symbolic flower – the anemone – positively and negatively imprinted across the packaging. Though each bottle will have its own package, the bottles are presented as a set. The positive and negative flowers are imprinted on the packages so that they fit together to become one. When they are separated, there is a small cut in the packaging revealing each bottle. To retrieve the bottles from the pac

kaging one must have a access to a separate anemone – not sticky fingers allowed.

Unfortunately things this cool do not come cheap. The limited collection, 100 sets or 200 bottles, is estimated at upwards of €10,000 which

must be pledged prior to a private visit to the facility. Once there, the buyer will be given exclusive access to the cellar vaults for a private tasting of the 1998 Belle Epoque. If all goes well, the buyer will be given the magnum, their half of the sculpture and a Life Journal meant to hold the record of when and where the wine was drunk as well as it what it tasted like. All of these materials will be, presumably, passed on to future generations. The other bottle will remain at the Champagne house to be stored until it is retrieved in many years.

Rumor has it there are still a few sets left so if you have the money to spend and the time to travel to France….well then what are you waiting for, really? This purchase is not just one of epically delicious proportions, it is also one of history.

Santé!