Some packages just leave you speechless. You sit. You stare. You open it. You poke at it. You close it. You stare a bit more. This was one of those packages. Veuve Clicquot sent over one of their 1200 limited edition stingray skin Yellowboams (there are 3600 in the edition, 1200 each of ostrich, alligator, and stingray) ~ yes, a 3L (4 bottle equiv) bottle of Yellow Label Champagne... in a stunning handcrafted metallic lacquered wood box (with adorable little round hinges and magnetic closure) ~ with a stand for the monstrously large bottle... and the bottle itself has a yellow label made from ostrich, alligator, or galuchat, sealed with 22.4 ct gold and a 24 ct plated muzzle engraved with Mme. Clicquot's signature. A little over the top, in a completely surreal, "how is this enormous bottle sitting on my counter right now, and how amazing is this paint job?" sort of way. Next question of course was, "How will we ever pour this? Or chill it? And who will have to come help drink it?"

So take a peek at more pictures on the next page ~ once you get past the extravagance, it's really one of the sweetest most unexpected gifts to arrive, so, thank you, Veuve Clicquot. And don't worry i will certainly document it when i open it... i'm terribly curious what is under that golden muzzle... and the adorable notebook that was included mentions that you can send in the leather label to have it turned into a card holder... intriguing...

p.s.
This launched me into that hunt for the names of various bottle sizes, so for those curious: Magnum = 2 bottles, Jeroboam = 4 bottles, Rehoboam = 6 bottles, Methuselah = 8 bottles, Salmanazar = 12 bottles, Balthazar= 16 bottles, Nubchadnezzar = 20 bottles. And most are named after BC kings... and "A useful mnemonic for these big bottle sizes is: My Judy Really Makes Splendid Belching Noises" says Champagne Magic.

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Tags: champagne - drinks - gifts - liqurious - packaging - shopping - veuve clicquot

Between Oxford and Stockholm, there was a last minute irresistible reason to change plans and detour through Paris to have dinner as a guest of Dom Perignon in Versailles! In the style and room that Louis XIV dined... ok, quite honestly, for something that "once in a lifetime" feeling, how could you turn down such an opportunity? So that meant hopping on a train to London in the morning, then Eurostarring it over to Paris, and then into the infamous Hotel de Crillon (according to wikipedia, it's one of the oldest luxury hotels in the WORLD), where a matte black Dom Perignon bag filled with matte black goodness and lots of history and background information on the world of Dom awaited me on the desk to dive into in the few hours i had to prepared before for dinner. So before we get into Versailles... here's a peek at design details of Hotel de Crillon and the lovely packaging of the Dom Perignon materials! (As you'll see, they LOVE stacks of cards/imagery on gorgeous paper in various sizes... even with gilded edges...)

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Tags: champagne - drinks - hotels - packaging - paris

"Inspired by the comet logo and created by Design Research Studio under the creative direction of Tom Dixon, Veuve Clicquot presents The Comet. The Comet is a natural evolution of Tom's original creation the Comet Lamp." (Which we gave away to a luck reader earlier!) I've always loved geodesic structures, and to have this large igloo like cave of a space in that vibrant Veuve yellow ~ and filled with perfectly stacked bottles of champagne... it was just a delightful space! Also unmissable from afar as you wonder what the bizarre yellow structures are as you enter from the bridge...

I suppose i shouldn't be too surprised to find myself coming from the history and source of Veuve Clicquot having just participated in harvest, only to be mesmerized and inspired once again by their design collaborations... on random thoughts, these comet structures would make for a very cool fort if i was still a kid... or maybe a sanctuary or work space? tree house? Unfortunately there weren't really any kids at the VIP event, but i bet they would have made for some adorable pictures! See lots of pics of the structures and some other Veuve details on the next page!

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Tags: champagne - events - furniture - lighting - london - luxury - veuve clicquot

Ok on aspects of this trip that i shamelessy geeked out on... did you know that's how champagne corks start? Before they get mushroomed? And the machine that mushroomifies them and puts the cage on is really cool? (Cool enough i had to make a video to share with you of course!) Also, there was definitely a warm fuzzy feeling that overcame me as Veuve Clicquot brought us to visit a tiny (relatively speaking!) grand cru champagne maker ~ Gatinois, a family-run business located in Aÿ since 1696, at the foot of the Montagne de Reims. While they have been selling half their crop to neighbor, Bollinger, they are producing more and more of their own label. It was infectious how passionate Pierre Cheval-Gatinois was as he shared his company's story and history and process with us (his son is starting to step in as the 12th generation!)... perhaps the biggest contrast was visiting his cellars compared to les creyeres of Veuve Clicquot... the shift in scale was amazing, and you must check out the exposed wires running the lighting (to fry yourself, just reach up and grab one in each hand)... Oh, and also, the amber blush tone of the champagne is gorgeous and it is extremely delicious... but unfortunately it they don't have a distributor in LA! Anyhow, on the next page you can see lots of pics, and the video of how the corks transform to magically to the mushrooms we associate with champagne!

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Tags: champagne - france - luxury - travel - veuve clicquot - video

Veuve Clicquot was generous enough to bring me to Reims again this year to join their intimate harvest festivities (read: honored they let me come do a day of manual labor with their friends/family). I kid you not. I spent half a day in the beautiful hot champagne region sun from the break of dawn fighting jetlag clipping grapes and working my way through the rows while chatting with friends old and new. So there you have it, my excuse for why posts slowed down and got so quiet. Also minimal wifi. But really, it turns out that the best way to slow me down is tire me out! Because i certainly had no problem running around, drinking late, and still posting before bed on the last trip...

So on the next page you can take a look at my experience from sunrise to learning how to pick grapes, to wine breaks (at 9am!), to crating the grapes away, to seeing them pressed... all the missing steps from last year... it's fascinating really to see what happens between the fresh grapes and the bottling to spend time in les crayeres. And we were back at the Verzy country estate which has some of the finest grapes behind it ~ the grapes we picked will be in the 2019 Veuve Clicquot La Grand Dame if we're lucky, so far they are saying it is a phenomenal harvest! And if nothing else, they've at lease guaranteed that i will have to purchase a bottle (or case!) just to see where my grapes went! So see the process first hand on the next page!

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Tags: champagne - france - luxury - nature - travel - veuve clicquot

It was a gorgeous day in NY to take the VIP ferry out to Governor's Island for my first official polo match/picnic. Granted this was no ordinary day in the park ~ since there was much buzz with Prince Harry playing, Marc Jacobs and Madonna wandering around, and never ending Veuve Clicquot flowing at the second annual Veuve Clicquot Manhattan Polo Classic. The views were absolutely stunning ~ the manhattan skyline peeking out from behind the game, endless smatterings Pantone 137c between the lush green grass and perfectly clouded blue skies, and amusing people watching with lots of "daring hats" as requested. Take a peek at the experience on the next page...

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Tags: animals - champagne - nature - new york - polo - sport - travel - veuve clicquot

Have you ever found yourself mesmerized by a curvature? A silhouette? Just stuck in your mind, and you could stare at it for ages? And it doesn't help that as you stare at it you can't help but sip it as well? Well there's something so beautiful about the Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label and La Grande Dame champagne glasses that i've been obsessing about since that trip to paris with them last year... It actually had me paying much closer to attention to both champagne and champagne glasses, since. You'll see what i mean in the many pictures on the next page... there's a comparison of some of the various champagne glasses rounded up from holiday gift boxes...

... also further indulging my curiosity about the origins of Champagne Glasses, the Veuve Clicquot historian was kind enough to put together some information on their background as well as some gorgeous visuals - from vintage Veuve ads ~ to scans from their library to take a look at what types of champagne glass styles exist and how they have evolved over the years.

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Tags: champagne - drinks - gifts - glass - kitchen - liqurious - packaging - shopping - veuve clicquot

Just got back from the midnight showing of Quantum of Solace... and as a total bond junkie... i still stand by my opinion that the last one was one of the worst... and this one... well, it was off to a good start! Decent intro graphics ~ like the color palette and sandy look ~ awesome techy glass wall and table touch UIs (details like having him spell out "G R Double E N" over the phone, and as he says "double" a W shows up and changes to EE) ~ the aston martin DBS chase scene in the intro ~ tom ford did an incredible job dressing him... The prada dress she wears through the desert is awesome... but seriously, no gadgets? at all? Painfully annoying semi background integrated text telling us when we were in russia, etc? (wtf was up with some of those fonts?) Range Rover was one thing, but Ford? The fight scenes were so badly chopped up, you couldn't follow what was going on... And could sony's product placement have been more blatant? I think the sony phones and terrible microPC must have been his only "gadgets"... and the villains weren't nearly amusingly villainous enough either! Ok ok, anyhow, i think i just needed to vent! BUT... seeing it was a nice excuse for me to post more of Justine's pictures (she seriously sent me TONS from her National Geographic night out in London).

Here are some quick snap shots of the fun Harrod's Brompton store windows as they closed up the Bollinger champagne bar... as well as the Aston Martin DBS, the Sunseeker speedboat, Tom Ford suit and black Prada dress worn by Daniel Craig and Olga Kurylenko and the latest Omega. Front and center of the bar you can also see the limited-edition Champagne cooler in the shape of a Walther PPK bullet that was featured on Liqurious. Perhaps better than the gadgetry in the film is the motion activated display at Harrods, where upon walking by you trigger clips from the film to play... Anyhow, check out more pics and info on the next page!

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Tags: champagne - drinks - holiday - movie - technology - travel

While recollecting my thoughts and trying to take a bit of a break ~ i've also found myself cleaning up my computer, and while doing so, discovered a lot of posts in the making... that never quite made it! So here's some more catch up. I spent most of yesterday running around LA (and the outskirts) hunting and researching for the house i'm working on (under construction! i get to move in soon!) ~ and in doing so, finding myself thinking about so many details i hadn't paid such careful attention to before, and things that reminded me about the Manoir de Verzy ~ the Country House of Madame Veuve Clicquot that we visited, and i'm ashamed that i hadn't gotten these pictures up for you sooner!

There were so many fascinating details to this house and its gardens and being able to visit the actual vineyards ~ consider this a photo essay of sorts taking you through some of my most memorable images while there. This house is where we learned about vintages (even tasting our birth years! mine was a delicious vintage in '82) and Dégorgement à la volée in the Vieux Pressoir with Cyril Brun, the wine communications head and wine maker ~ followed by aperitif and specially crafted, perfectly paired lunch with Stéphane Gerschel - International Communications Director, Andrea Crippa - International Marketing Director, Cyril Brun, Felix Bocquet - Quality and Environment Director, followed by a walk through the vineyards with the Veuve Clicquot Vineyards director, Christian Renard. (All before taking off to our surprise helicopter ride!). It was at this lunch that Andrea gave us that sneak peek of the Ice Cube and i showed you some of the tile i loved. Anyhow, so on house shopping, and all the little details that make a house a home, take a peek at some of the quarters where VIPs stay with Veuve Clicquot, and the beautifully inspiring views across the vineyard on the next page!

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Tags: champagne - france - home - luxury - travel - veuve clicquot - wine

I saw the Veuve Clicquot Globalights designed by Karim Rashid in their true light... honestly, seeing them in press photos and at the launch did not do the design justice... the juxtaposition of the sleek modern pink glow, with the ancient, history filled caves, give them an incredibly surreal context... they were absolutely stunning in the dark depths of the roman limestone caves that double as cellars underneath Reims for the delicious Veuve Clicquot... and as such, i couldn't help taking photographs of its mesmerizing light, as it provided an incredible glow as our hand held lanterns as we toured the caves and learned about the process in the perfectly cool (same temp all year round!) space... looking at the pictures, i'm amazed how incredible the lighting turned out for what seemed so incredibly dark at the time... now if only we could PLAN some incredible photoshoot down there to make use of the space even more creatively (in addition to making champagne, of course!)... see the photo spread on the next page!

p.s.
unfortunately the only thing missing in these pictures is having an actual bottle IN the Globalight... ironically we were surrounded by bottles constantly though!

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Tags: champagne - drinks - lighting - luxury - travel - veuve clicquot

On fascinating lore (surrounded by rumors and speculation) ~ in Notre Dame de Reims (where nearly all the kings of france have been crowned) in the stained glass windows of the south transcript... there are yellow labeled champagne bottles which we heard from someone who heard from someone that Veuve Clicquot played such a large role in the history of the region over the centuries that you even see it in the stained glass. Speculate as to whether its complete fabrication, conspiracies of the past, the first product placement, etc as you wish... i'm just showing you what we found in those windows, so you can join in on the fun too. See larger images of these wine making panels on the next page!

By the way, standing in such a large cathedral, late for the bus, trying to play the equivalent of 'where's waldo' on a huge wall of stained glass is harder than expected...

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Tags: champagne - france - travel - veuve clicquot

I've thought and rethought and dreamt about how to describe this trip, how to break up the posts, how to tell you about all of the incredible things that have happened in the last three days, and somehow it all comes across sounding quite possibly a bit gushy and cheesy. So, you know what? I'm just going to be completely honest with all of you, and even though i have about 1000+ pics of so many insane adventures and stories, here's the plan: i'm going to work my way through them in images, sharing with you piece by piece, scattered with little stories as i remember them.

The official aspect of this Veuve Clicquot France trip has come to an end, and most of the other bloggers are headed back home, my new Veuve Clicquot family has been kind enough to put me up for 5 more nights so i can cover Paris Design this week at Maison & Objet. So about that family thing, i kid you not that it feels like we were all adopted by the Veuve Clicquot family, everyone from the president, to communications, to brand managers, to sommeliers, and more welcomed us with open arms, and were so kind (and insanely playful, passionate, and full of life) - it felt far more like hanging out with your long lost aunt than meeting with the president of multinational, centuries old, champagne powerhouse. Also, what's more inspiring than constantly hearing the lore of Madame Clicquot, and in a one liner... a woman who was widows at 27, who manages to revolutionize the champagne industry through a multitude of innovations, and becomes the richest woman in europe in a time where women held few rights? (So, at 25, i guess i have a lot of work to do to catch up someday!)

Ok, but, moving along ~ HELICOPTER RIDE! I'd never been on a helicopter, and the crazy, secret loving itinerary planners of this trip worked in massive surprises for us everyday where even the drivers didn't know what was up until we arrived. So imagine the looks on our faces when we pulled up to L'aerodrome Reims Prunay? And when we are whisked into "the rolls royce of helicopters" (leather seats, Bose headsets, etc), and soon peering over at the champagne region from bird's eye view, watching all of the tiny people, vast vineyards, circling the mountain... then suddenly you see it. Madame Clicquot's historic Boursault Castle. Mind. Blowing. Go see the rest of the images on the next page!

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Tags: champagne - france - helicopter - luxury - travel - veuve clicquot

Over lunch at Madame Clicquot's Country House, Andrea Crippa, Directeur Marketing & RP International for Veuve Clicquot, gave us a first look at a prototype of their latest design collaboration with Porsche Design which is said to launch in 2009.

Here is your first look at the Veuve Clicquot Ice Cube. "PRESS. CHILL. SHARE." This is the ice bucket you want the next time you're stuck in the middle of a desert with good friends and a bottle of champagne... While it looks like a mere ice bucket in the classic Veuve color at first... once you pop the top, you will find two specially designed champagne flutes and two buttons. Now the magic about this design is the technology ~ after 5 years of r&d ~ Veuve Clicquot has developed a system that will instantly cool a bottle of champagne in around 20 minutes, and keep it at the perfect chilled temp for 4 hours... The cooling core can be used twice (or for 8 hours in one go) - and after that you can use the bucket the old fashioned way by filling it with ice! It is currently unclear whether there may be options to buy refill cores to futher use the instant cooling system that draws heat out of the bottles and into a heating stone... perhaps they'll even get creative and devise some other options to insert into this nice simple ice bucket. See the next page for pics of the prototype and packaging.

p.s.
How beautiful are these tiles? I needed a good excuse to share them, and they were such a nice contrast to the bright ice cube, i couldn't resist being that girl that sat on the floor shooting pictures of a prototype while the others had coffee.

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Tags: champagne - drinks - gifts - luxury - packaging - reviews - shopping - veuve clicquot

"July 30th Whiskey Blue at W Los Angeles - Westwood debuted a month-long Piscine experience which is complemented by an installation by world-renowned Spanish designer Jaime Hayon - whose work transcends the borders of art and design. Crafted from Suryln, a material commonly used in molded luxury goods, the striking piece morphs into a satellite champagne bar that is inspired by the brand's iconic and extravagant red color. "

Is it weird that i wish i had this in my future studio? NOTCOT regulars know how i love the glossy lacquered clean modern look of Jamie Hayon's designs ~ (and am still lusting after that bath tub!) Remember his previous collaborations with Champagne Piper-Heidsieck? He created a beautiful champagne bucket and champagne bowl, and has continued the styling and colors of those pieces into this larger piece which i suppose is more like a champagne bathtub and lamp in one. The glossy quilted texture of the lampshade just keep drawing me in. See more images on the next page!

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Tags: champagne - drinks - furniture - travel

I found myself browsing the Moët & Chandon site, and quickly pulled into their gorgeous section flying you through their heritage (fascinating stuff...) as well as the behind the scenes video of the new "be fabulous" campaign that was shot in NY by photographer, Roxanne Lowit. And then from a product perspective, i had to share the new Moët Rosé Indulgence Coffret ~ you know how i can't resist the sleek glossy black lacquer... and although not usually a huge pink fan, i do like my Rosé, and there's something so appealing about this "18th centure boudoir, a world of indulgence and richesse..." inspired coffret... nice touch having it under lock and key - complete with big pink tassel. More close ups on the next page...

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Tags: champagne - drinks - gifts - moet & chandon - shopping