veuve clicquot

Make the Right Champagne and Cigar Choice for New Year's Eve [EXCLUSIVE]

Filed under: Cigars

What will you cut and light when you pop the cork on New Year's Eve? People may agonize over champagne choices, but cigars don't always get commensurate attention. Fortunately, Vin lee, CEO of the Beverly Hills Cigar Club, was on hand to provide his recommendations for the biggest party night of the year. Below are his top five cigar and champagne pairings, designed to make your first sip and puff of 2011 ideal.

Lee is particularly excited about the new year. "Now is the time for the world to celebrate its recovery and success," he said. "For the New Year, from Dubai to Paris and from New York to Beverly Hills, it is time for the world to rejoice in what we have and who we are. Coming together with a glass of bubbly and a fine cigar, let's welcome 2011."

Let's take a look on what's on the Beverly Hills Cigar Club's list:

Tags: arturo fuente, beverly hills, Celebration, champagne, cigar, cigar club, cigar lounge, cigars, davidoff, Macanudo, new years eve, Veuve Clicquot, zino, zino davidoff

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Veuve Clicquot's Jetlag Sleeping Capsule Debuts at Design Miami

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine, By Design, Architecture & Design

Veuve Clicquot's Jetlag Sleeping Capsule designed for the Hotel du Marc in Champagne, France.

Anyone who was fortunate enough to spend twenty minutes relaxing in the modernistic sleeping capsule in Veuve Clicquot's "Once Upon a Dream" exhibit at DesignMiami this past week, was probably not the same afterward. Indeed, the innovative sleep capsule was created by famed designer Mathieu Lehanneur who studied the research of noted sleep specialists in order to design a space that evokes resynchronization through touch, sight, smell and sound.

The Once Upon a Dream sleep capsule was commissioned by the renowned champagne house (the Luxist Awards' Readers Choice Winner for Best Champagne) in anticipation of the upcoming re-opening of the Hôtel du Marc in Reims, France. Hôtel du Marc (see image below) is the private mansion where Veuve Clicquot hosts as many as 3,000 overnight guests who travel from around the world to visit its headquarters where it makes its famous champagne.

Not only is the one-of-a-kind sleep capsule striking in design, but it also serves a higher purpose: for every twenty minutes spent sleeping inside it, one hour of jet lag is erased. If one hour is spent inside the capsule, the side effects related to three hours of jet lag disappear.

Gallery: Veuve Clicquot's Once Upon a Dream Sleep Capsule

Tags: awards-main, Campanas brothers, Champagne, Fernando Campana, France, Hotel du Marc, Humberto Campana, luxist-awards, Mathieu Lehanneur, The Gloriette, Veuve Clicquot

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Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic Comes to Los Angeles

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Events, Sports

Famed French champagne house Veuve Clicquot will re-introduce professional polo to Los Angeles when it hosts the inaugural Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic Los Angeles on October 10 at the Will Rogers State Historic Park in Pacific Palisades. Nacho Figueras, captain of the Black Watch team and Ralph Lauren model, will go head-to-head against some of the world's best polo players for the inaugural event. In homage to the golden era of polo in Hollywood in the 1920s and 1930s, guests are being encouraged to wear fashions inspired by that era, with help from Cameron Silver, super-stylish owner of Los Angeles and London-based vintage couture boutiques decadestwo and DECADES. Silver will offer on-site styling advice and sessions with guests and is consulting on the overall design of the event and its vintage inspiration.

In addition to the exclusive VIP Marquee, one side of the field will be free and open to the public. Angelenos will be able to watch the match from bleachers overlooking the legendary polo grounds – the last of Los Angeles' original 22 polo fields – where Hollywood celebrity and polo connoisseur Will Rogers used to play the sport himself along with fellow polo enthusiasts including Clark Gable, Walt Disney, and Spencer Tracy. The site is located just outside Rogers' former estate, which still stands today. Spectators can also expect plenty of Veuve Clicquot champagne bars and premium snacks, with a portion of the proceeds going to the Will Rogers Ranch Foundation and California State Parks.

Tags: California, champagne, Clark Gable, Decades, equestrian, events, Hollywood, horses, Los Angeles, Nacho Figueras, Pacific Palisades, polo, Ralph Lauren, sports, Veuve Clicquot, vintage, Will Rogers

The Classicist: Historic British Polo Estate Cowdray Park for Sale at $38 Million

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Sports, The Classicist

Cowdray Park, the country sporting estate famed as the home of British polo, has been listed for sale at £25 million, or about $38 million, in what UK estate agents are calling "the landmark property sale of the decade." The 19th century estate, centered on a 13-bedroom, 44,000-sq.-ft. manor house (above) built circa 1874, is set in 110 acres of parkland with horse paddocks and stables, two lakes, landscaped gardens and a cricket pitch, as well as its own a hamlet of cottages. It also includes the original practice ground where polo was first played in England 100 years ago.

"For anyone keen on polo, this has to be the ultimate property as it literally adjoins the polo club which is the British home of the sport," Edward de Mallet Morgan, of Knight Frank, the agency handling the sale, tells the London Telegraph. The property, situated in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in West Sussex, does not include the estate's famous Cowdray Park Polo Club, which hosts 450 matches a year including the Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup featuring the world's top players including Prince Harry, however. The mansion features both indoor and outdoor swimming pools, wine cellars, tennis courts, and a bowling alley.

The estate's architectural merit matches its illustrious sporting heritage. Stained glass windows, oak, stone and marble fireplaces, ornate cornices, mouldings and period paneling abound. The spectacular great hall has a barrel vaulted ceiling, minstrel's gallery and massive fireplace. The estate's owner, Viscount Cowdray, considered turning it into a luxury hotel, spa and conference center before deciding to sell the historic property after failing to find a suitable business partner for the venture. He is retaining ownership of most of the 16,000 acres of land surrounding the mansion, which includes a ruined castle, a golf club, holiday cottages, farmland and the polo club, however, and plans to move to a smaller house on the property.

Gallery: Cowdray Park, Home of British Polo

De Mallet Morgan has said that there has already been considerable interest in the estate from wealthy Russian, Middle Eastern and Indian prospective buyers. Cowdray Park has been owned by the Cowdray family since 1909 when it was purchased by the engineer and oil industrialist Sir Weetman Dickinson Pearson. The first competitive polo tournaments were recorded at Cowdray in 1910, and by the 1920s a series of competitions with dedicated cups and trophies was firmly established, such as the Coronation Cup, first presented in 1911 to celebrate the coronation of King George V.

Source

Tags: country house, Cowdray Park, Cowdray Park Polo Club, England, equestrian, estate, horses, polo, Prince Harry, sporting, UK, Veuve Clicquot

200-Year Old Champagne Lifted From Baltic Shipwreck

by David Kiley (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine

Divers are recovering bottles of Champagne that have been lying at the bottom of the Baltic Sea for about two centuries, according to European news reports.

About 70 bottles, some of which from the no-longer-operating House of Juglar, lie mostly undamaged in 164 feet of water south of the Aland Islands.

The first bottle was brought to the surface in mid-July.
The cargo was aboard a ship believed to be heading from Copenhagen, Denmark, to St Petersburg, Russia, between 1800 and 1830. Based on assertions made by some historians, it could have been en route to the Russian Imperial Court from France's King Louis XVI.

Some of the bottles already retrieved had some cracks and a few corks on the bottles had corroded, leaving the possibility open that salt water leaked into some bottles.
The island chain is at the entrance of the Gulf of Bothnia, in the Baltic Sea, and is part of Finland. The islands form an archipelago of more than 6,000 islands.

The trove as discovered in July. At first, because some of the in-tact labels had an anchor on them, it was believed the Champagne had come from Veuve Clicquot. But since then, the source of the bottles has centered on Juglar.

Tags: Champagne shipwreck, Juglar, King Louis XVI, Veuve Clicquot

The Veuve Clicquot Mini Fridge, and the Story of an Iconic Yellow

by Annie Scott (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits, Wine

What could be more festive than a Veuve Clicquot Mini Fridge?

Veuve Clicquot has many a holiday package in store for you this coming season, but in this case, Christmas has come early. This charming little "Le Fridge" case retails for $44 (bottle included) and is available now if you can manage to find one. It's a gift that keeps on giving; this reusable champagne bottle holder can keep your Clicquot cold for up to two hours. The retro design features a glossy plastic cover in Veuve's iconic yellow with a silvery handle, and is engraved with the Veuve Cliquot logo in silver.

A bit more about that iconic yellow: did you know why it was chosen? Back in the 1860s, Madame Clicquot wanted to create a special champagne for the British, as their tastes tended to be dryer than the French. To distinguish it from her classic Ponsardin, at the suggestion of a British retailer, Veuve Clicquot darkened the then-white label, but everyone complained that you couldn't really tell the difference in the dark, or distinguish it from another white-labeled bottle which was dirty after some time in the cellar. So, in the spring of 1876, Madame Clicquot's business partner Edouard Werle chose the particular yellow you see today; an ingenious move which has led us all to be able to spot Veuve Clicquot from across the room.

Doesn't all that just make you want to drink some champagne?

Tags: champagne, le fridge, madame cliquot, veuve clicquot

Divers Find 230-Year Old Champagne

by David Kiley (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine

Divers in the Baltic Sea are believed to have discovered a trove of 230-year old Veuve Clicquot Champagne, believed to be the oldest drinkable Champagne ever found.

About 30 bottles are believed to be in the wreck. One of the dive-party's members reportedly opened one and tasted it, saying, "it tasted fantastic."
Swedish wine expert Carl-Jan Granquist estimates each bottle could bring around euro50,000 if the corks are in tact.

The bottles were discovered Tuesday, July 13 near the Aland Islands in the Baltic between Sweden and Finland.

The bottles are believed to be Vueve Cliquot, owned by Moet-Chandon, because of an anchor design on the cork, which the Champagne house used. The identity of the ship has not yet been determined.

Tags: Champagne, moet-chandon, shipwreck, Veuve Clicquot

L'Assiette Champenoise: A Bubbly Hideaway

by Zack O'Malley Greenburg (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Wine

L'Assiette Champegnoise in Reims, France

The city of Reims, France, has long been known as the center of the country's storied Champagne region. These days, a noisy construction project snarls traffic and plays havoc with downtown hotels and restaurants meaning there's never been a better time for visiting oenophiles to stay at L'Assiette Champegnoise, a quaint hotel on the outskirts.

Reims is home to all five of last month's Luxist Award nominees in the best sparkling wine/champagne category Krug , Dom Perignon, Pommery, Louis Roederer and Veuve Clicquot. L'Assiette Champegnoise is mere minutes by car from the headquarters of these houses and others.

Built on an old Norman estate, L'Assiette consistently ranks among the best hotels in the area. Cruise through the main gate and the first thing you will see are the twin chimneys rising from the main building, a turreted chateau brimming with old world charm. Behind it lie the hotels 55 rooms and four acres of greenery. The back yard, shaded by century-old trees and strewn with overstuffed chair-pillows, makes for an ideal place to relax with a good book and a flute of champagne from the intimate bar in the lobby.

Visitors needn't venture into Reims for dinner, as the best restaurant in the area is on-site: a two-star Michelin restaurant helmed by chef Arnaud Lallement. In good weather, the aperitif is served outside on the deck; in any case, the intimate dining room and its large windows bring diners closer to nature. For those who would prefer an even more local experience, the restaurant offers room service as well.

Old-fashioned appeal doesn't mean an aversion to modern amenities: each room at L'Assiette offers a television, a telephone, and wireless internet. For such an elegant and conveniently located hotel, the prices are reasonable, starting at 165 Euros per night. The champagne, however, is not included.

Tags: Champagne, Dom Perignon, France, hotel, LAssiette Champegnoise, luxist-awards, Pommery, Reims, Veuve Clicquot

Veuve Clicquot Wins the Readers' Choice Award for Best Champagne

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine

If it weren't for Veuve Clicquot, the winner of the Luxist Awards' Readers' Choice Award for best champagne/sparkling wine, your next glass of champagne might be full of sediment. The house invented the practice of remuage, or riddling, wherein bottles are turned by hand so that the solid matter gets pushed into the neck and can be emptied before the bottling process is complete.

Remuage is just one of the advanced techniques pioneered by Veuve Clicquot over the course of its storied history. Founded in 1772 by Philippe Clicquot, the house became the first to ship rosé champagne three years later. But the house's greatest leader turned out to be Barbe Nicole Ponsardin – also known as Madame Clicquot, the widow of Philippe's son. After her husband's death, she took the house's reins at the age of 27.

Gallery: Veuve Clicquot

In 1814, Madame Clicquot shipped 10,000 bottles of champagne to Russia, where demand skyrocketed for the better part of a century. Two years later, she invented the remuage technique. After a long career that brought Veuve Clicquot to the top of the champagne world, she retired at the age of 64.

In 1987, the brand became part of luxury conglomerate Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy, maintaining the brand's historical caché. Reminders of the champagne's history are never far away – in 2008, the oldest unopened bottle of Veuve was found in a Scottish castle. Not for sale, the bottle now graces the Veuve Clicquot visitor center in Reims, France.

Tags: awards-main, best champagne, luxist-awards, Veuve Clicquot, winners-wine, winners-wines

Ltd. Edition Piaget Presented to Veuve Clicquot Polo Champs

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches, Events, Sports

As you no doubt recall from my colleague Jeffrey Slonim's RSVIP column the other day, luxury Swiss watchmaker Piaget was the official timekeeper of the Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic in New York City last weekend where Prince Harry joined the sport. In celebration of this year's event, Piaget created a limited edition version of its Piaget Polo FortyFive Chronograph to be awarded as the prize for the winning team. Inspired by the Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic, the specially designed timepiece features the iconic "Clicquot Yellow" on its signature sub-dials and is designated "New York." Only 10 examples have been produced.

While Piaget ambassador and captain of Prince Harry's team, Nick Roldan, debuted the new watch to press at the event, the prize ultimately went to Team Blackwatch who won in a 6–5 victory. Team captain Nacho Figueras graciously accepted the award (above) and then promised to auction it off to raise money for American Friends of Sentebale, Prince Harry's charity. "Piaget has a long history with polo, so we are proud to commemorate our partnership with the Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic by creating this very special timepiece," noted Larry Boland, President of Piaget North America. "It's certain to become a collector's item."

Tags: champagne, Chronograph, Nacho Figueras, New York, Piaget, Piaget Polo, Polo, Prince Harry, Sentebale, sports, Veuve Clicquot, Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic

RSVIP: Veuve Clicquot 2010 Polo Classic, Prince Harry Versus Nacho Figueras

by Jeffrey Slonim (RSS feed) —

A gleaming white marquee tent with multiple peaks, white couches, Veuve Clicquot-orange umbrellas, and ice buckets faced the sweltering polo field on New York's Governor's Island on Sunday, June 27, 2010. Here, Britain's Prince Harry and his Black Rock team would challenge the international polo star Nacho Figueras and his elegantly appointed, Ralph Lauren-sponsored team, Black Watch, for the third year running.

"I flew in from London last night," mentioned Houston social Becca Cason Thrash. "I've seen Prince Harry play at Highgrove, his father's summer home. He's adorable . . . and shockingly tall."

"Harry versus Nacho, should be VERY interesting," concurred Ivanka Trump, who said that she had previously viewed polo matches in England, Palm Beach, and Greenwich, Connecticut. But the heiress and jewelry designer refused to wager for or against the Prince, whose team won in 2009. "You can't bet against a prince," she said, laughing. "It just wouldn't be appropriate."

Actress Susan Sarandon limped into the match, one foot in a black boot cast. "I've had to do horseback riding in a number of movies," she quipped. "If you have a smart horse, you can't ride badly."

And Mary J. Blige said it was her virgin match. "Ever, ever," she insisted. "And, yes, I want to meet Harry."

In the Veuve Clicquot-sponsored lunch tent, Prince Harry spoke of the Sentebale charity that he formed with Prince Seesio of Lesotho for orphans and at-risk children in that country. A nearby Figueras appeared crisp in a pinstriped blazer, a white shirt with three buttons opened, silver necklaces, white jeans, and suede slippers.

Tags: gayle king, Nacho Figueras, podcast, prince harry, val kilmer, Veuve Clicquot, veuve clicquot polo classic

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World's Best Champagne

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine

Luxist readers from around the world have nominated their favorite makers of champagne and sparkling wines. Here's the list of the top five that made the list of the world's best:

Cristal
For a champagne founded in the same year as the United States of America, Louis Roederer's Cristal has changed remarkably little over the years compared to the country across the pond.

Founded in 1776 as Dubois Pere & Fils, the company was renamed after the founder's nephew, Louis Roederer, who took over in 1833 and renamed the champagne house after himself. One of Roederer's greatest moves was expanding the brand into Russia. The champagne enjoyed years of success among well-heeled Russians, and Tsar Nicholas II eventually requested a special champagne to be made for the Imperial Court of Russia. The result was Cristal, a sweet and delicious wine that broke with tradition – instead of being packaged in a dark bottle like, say, Dom Perignon – Cristal came in crystal-clear bottles, hence the name. As legend has it, the transparency was a feature designed so that Tsar Nicholas could tell if somebody was trying to poison his bubbly.

Gallery: Louis Roederer's Cristal Champagne

Dom Perignon
France's King Louis XIV, called The Sun King because everything revolved around him, had an uncanny connection to the champagne that eventually found its way into his court. In 1694, Dom Perignon, the monk who developed the regal wine, had a goal to create the best wine in the world. Sure enough, Dom Perignon became the most expensive wine sold in France that year. The 1921 vintage became the first prestige cuvée ever, with an initial batch sold in 1936. It has been served at all manner of glamorous occasions, including the Shah of Iran's 1959 wedding, as well as Prince Charles and Princess Diana's nuptials in 1981. Since Dom Perignon is a vintage champagne, it's not made in years considered to be weak.

Gallery: Dom Perignon

Tags: awards-main, Champagne, Cristiano Ronaldo, dom perignon, krug, louis roederer, luxist-awards, Pommery, Veuve Clicquot

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Veuve Clicquot: A Leader in Developing the World's Best Champagnes

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine

If it weren't for Veuve Clicquot, your next glass of champagne might be full of sediment. The house invented the practice of remuage, or riddling, wherein bottles are turned by hand so that the solid matter gets pushed into the neck and can be emptied before the bottling process is complete. That fact alone seems justification for Veuve Clicquot's nomination for a Luxist award in the best sparkling wine/champagne category.

Remuage is just one of the advanced techniques pioneered by Veuve Clicquot over the course of its storied history. Founded in 1772 by Philippe Clicquot, the house became the first to ship rosé champagne three years later. But the house's greatest leader turned out to be Barbe Nicole Ponsardin – also known as Madame Clicquot, the widow of Philippe's son. After her husband's death, she took the house's reins at the age of 27.

Gallery: Veuve Clicquot

Tags: awards-main, Champange, champanges, luxist-awards, Veuve Clicquot, Veuve-Cliquot

Prince Harry Returns to NYC for Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic

by Carrie N. Culpepper (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Events, Charity

The royal redhead returns to New York on June 27 to go mallet-to-mallet with Argentinian Nacho Figueras in the Veuve Cliquot Polo Classic on Governor's Island. Figueras (below), named one of "Polo's 10 Hottest Horsemen" by Vanity Fair, plays the sport professionally when he's not modeling for Ralph Lauren. Last year his team lost to Prince Harry's Santebale team, named after the charity the prince started for underprivileged children in Lesotho, Africa.

Tags: governors island, Nacho Figueras, new york polo, polo, polo classic, prince harry, ralph lauren, Ralph Lauren Polo, Veuve Clicquot, veuve clicquot polo classic

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Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic Returns to NYC

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine, Events, Charity, Sports

Famed French champagne house Veuve Clicquot will stage its third annual Polo Classic in New York City on June 27. The event will once again take place on Governors Island, where the tradition of playing polo was revived after a 70-year lull. At last year's match the UK's Prince Harry led his team to victory over the Ralph Lauren-sponsored Black Watch team to cheers from a VIP crowd that included Madonna, Kate Hudson, Marc Jacobs, Chloe Sevigny and Donna Karan. Spectators can attend for free but exclusive lawn picnic tickets to the event for $250 apiece will go on sale beginning May 17th at www.vcseason.com. Ticket holders get ringside seats, unlimited Veuve Clicquot, a custom Polo picnic blanket and a gourmet picnic lunch created by Michael Romano of Union Square Café. Ralph Lauren model and Black Watch player Nacho Figueras is co-chairing this year's event, and Veuve Clicquot will once again donate proceeds to American Friends of Sentebale, a charity supporting at-risk children in Lesotho, Africa, founded by Prince Harry and Lesotho's Prince Seeiso.

Tags: champagne, equestrian, Madonna, Manhattan, Marc Jacobs, Nacho Figueras, New York, New York City, Polo, Prince Harry, Ralph Lauren, Union Square Café, Veuve Clicquot