Bling & Bubbly

A 750 mililiter faux gold bottle with signature Ace of Spades pewter insignia costs $250. Is it worth it?

You might well wonder about the quality of the juice, given all the attention lavished on the bottle itself. Interestingly enough, it holds its own against the tête de cuvée competition.



Last year, Fine Champagne Magazine sponsored a blind tasting of the world’s top champagnes, including Cristal and Dom Pérignon. Armand de Brignac came in first. The 2002 Cristal took fourth place. I tried it last year and thought it was a complex and elegant champagne, reminding me more than a little of the 2000 Dom Pérignon, the number 2 one in the Fine Champagne Magazine tasting .

In fact, I liked the bubbly better than I liked the bottle. And just look at that bottle.







--WSJ

Life Lessons from Churchill

The Churchill family always lived well

Winston had always contrived to be "well-mounted," a horsey term which he used to signify "able to maintain a comfortable existence in society." As he once put it: "All my life, I have earned my own living, so that I have always had a bottle of champagne for myself and another for a friend."

Indeed, Churchill practiced what he preached. There was a succession of first-class cooks. The cellars were ample. He nearly always drank champagne at mealtimes (as was normal among the richer politicians of his generation). His favorite was Pol Roger. Toward the end of his life he said the 1928 vintage, of which he bought a great quantity, was the best ever bottled. Madame Roger became a friend of his and named a special cru after him. In turn, when he formed a racehorse stable, he named a horse after the brand. He had a special room for his cigars, of which the Romeo y Julieta was his chosen Havana.

Text adapted from Paul Johnson's "Churchill"