PARIS, March 17, 2008 - The world's most expensive champagne, popping
the records at 4,166 euros (6,485 dollars) for a personalised bottle of
bubbly, goes on sale Thursday targeting a "super-rich" global elite.
   The limited edition 12-bottle box sets of Perrier-Jouet champagne will be
priced at 50,000 euros, according to French drink firm Pernod-Ricard.
   Sales will be limited to a "community of super-rich" consumers in the
United States, Britain, Japan, China, Russia, Switzerland and France.
   "We are going to sell these box-sets to 100 people around the world who
will have a chance to customise their own champagne, the ultimate luxury,"
said Perrier Olivier Cavil, head of communications at Perrier-Jouet.
   "Each buyer will come to Epernay (in eastern France) for a one-on-one
meeting with our cellar master Herve Deschamps, and will personally add a
'liqueur' to personalise the bottles," he said.
   A combination of sugar and wines from different years, the liqueur will put
the finishing touch on bottles of Perrier-Jouet's 2000 Belle Epoque champagne.
   Buyers will also be offered a storage nest in Perrier-Jouet's cellars, to
hold the bottles for another eight months.
   The previous price record was held by a limited edition of Dom Perignon
champagne, which went on sale in 2005 for 12,000 euros per three-litre bottle.
   Pernod Ricard, which owns the champagne brands Mumm and Perrier-Jouet, is the fourth player in a booming global market.
   Champagne producers exported 150 million bottles last year, a 7.3-percent
jump from 2006, in addition to 188 million guzzled in France, according to
industry figures.

AFP