It looks as though world famous French champagne house Cristal, a symbol of wealth and excess, will either have to cease sales in Russia or change its name if it wants to continue supplying oligarchs with party potion.

State-owned Christall Vodka, a sister brand of Stolichnaya, has taken Cristal to court on the grounds that customers will be confused by the similarity. Russia's copyright watchdog has ruled in favor of Christall, Russia Today reports; Cristal has said it plans to appeal.

The ruling is ironic given the fact that Cristal, which is produced by Louis Roederer, was first created in 1876 for Tsar Alexander II of Russia while Christall Vodka is not even sold there. While Cristal only obtained its Russian license in 2006, however, Christall secured its copyright 30 years earlier.

In France, Christall Vodka lost a similar battle to Cristal, so some see the latest development as revenge. However, Christall's parent company denies this and says it would be open to allowing Cristal to keep selling if they agree to pay (a lot) for the privilege.

One of the investors in Billionaire, the famed club for the megarich on Sardinia's swank Emerald Coast, says the club should be shuttered because of the current economic climate. Billionaire, a favored haunt of tycoons who come to frolic with the likes of Dolce & Gabbana, Kate Moss and Sean Combs, is controlled by rakish Formula 1 mogul Flavio Briatore (above), but Italian entrepreneur and politician Daniela Santanchè has a 10% stake.

Santanchè says that the ultra-exclusive club, where methuselahs of Cristal go for $50,000 a pop, is an offensive relic of a more wasteful age, the London Guardian reports. "With people struggling to get by, Billionaire should be consigned to history," Santanchè says. "I myself have put my Aston Martin in the garage and get around in a Fiat 500."

"Daniela has been in the sun too long," Briatore, who has dated the likes of Naomi Campbell and Heidi Klum, fired back. "What she's saying is absurd. If luxury is suddenly a problem let's close Bulgari and Cartier, or even all the discos, restaurants and the whole of the Emerald Coast." That may not be necessary, in any case. The New York Times recently reported that the hotspot has lost a lot of its exclusivity lately and that some recent visitors aren't even millionaires, let alone billionaires.

I'm fascinated by what I am terming the "Champagne scramble" as the various Champagne producers confront a world in which the growing need for Champagne is compromised by both the limits of the region and the specter of global warming. The latest move in the battle comes from Champagne house Louis Roederer , the maker of Cristal one of the most recognizable brands, they are now looking at vineyards in Kent and Sussex. This could lead to the company producing English sparkling wine.

Over the last few years southern England has begun to get attention for sparkling wine production. The chalky soil is similar to that in the Champagne region and global warming has created a more hospitable growing climate. For the Champagne houses the lure of English land is also partly the price. Decanter reports that a 50 acre block for planting vines might cost between £8,000-£10,000 per acre in England while an acre of vineyard in Champagne would cost around £300,000. That's quite a lot to pay for a name. The hard part is convincing the world just how good English sparkling wine is. Having a major Champagne house invest in the region would certainly go a long way toward doing that.

In the short run however there is nothing to worry about in the region, this year's harvest in Champagne is set to achieve recordbreaking production.

Not only did Kevin Federline prove he is no Eminem during his first television performance, he also proved that he is oblivious to what is going on in the rap world. After all, there he was going on and on about his bling and popping Cristal when the rap world is currently boycotting the expensive champagne. Rapper Jay-Z has led the boycott of Cristal in the wake of some pointed comments by Frederic Rouzaud, the managing director of Louis Roderer Cristal about the unwanted attention given to the brand by rappers. Guess K-Fed didn't get the memo.

If  you ever plan to hang out with Jay-Z don't order Cristal. The popular rapper has announced that he will no longer serve Cristal Champagne at his 40/40 club and will lead a boycott against the popular bubbly. The boycott is in response to comments made by Frederic Rouzaud, the managing director of Louis Roderer Cristal in The Economist. Rouzand made it clear that he is no fan of the brand's association with hip-hop, describing the namechecking of the brand in songs as "unwelcome attention." Jay-Z has issued a statement saying that Rouzand's comments are racist and that he will no longer support the brand.

[via ONTD]

Rimowa cases --the Cristal of luggage -- have more than 100 years of experience under their belts. Now that they've figured out that if you make high-dollar luggage, you should do it for high-dollar customers and their high-dollar cars.

To this end, Rimowa is now pimping made-to-measure car luggage sets. The cars they're targeting?  BMW (5 series and 7 series), Audi (A6 and A8), and Mercedes (E and S class).

The company claims that "each of the exclusive sets is perfectly tailored to the standard empty car boot of these models" ("boot" here clearly being an expensive way to say "trunk").

To which I say: '89 Tercel drivers, are you going to take this?!

[Image Rimowa]

The Hilton sisters know how to tie one on on New Year's Eve, Contact Music reports that at PURE nightclub in Caesar's Palace, Nicky Hilton and current swain, actor Kevin Connolly popped the cork off a Nebuchadnezzar of Cristal champagne. The large bottle holds 20 normal-sized bottles and is one of only five in the U.S. The bottle is worth around $100,000. The party also featured a white anniversary cake for PURE that was decorated with sparklers and $30,000 worth of Swarovski crystals. Robin Leach's journal breaks down the weekend antics of both the Hilton girls in typically breathy fashion.