T
F R O M L E F T
A selection
of images from
Perrier-Jouët’s
L’Eden event
in Tokyo.he Champenois are the best marketers in
the wine world. They have been ever since
convincing the Romanovs to keep swilling
while the Russian Revolution started to ferment all
around them. They have not only manipulated
markets, they’ve manipulated the language as well.
Imagine what other businesses would give to
have their product serve as the adjective for life’s
finest moments.
Almost as soon as the region’s winemakers
mastered the art of trapping the bubbles created by
bottle fermentation in the late 17th-early 18th cent u r y,
the effervescent liquid produced by the ‘méthode
Champenoise’ has been intrinsically linked with
artistry and joie de vivre. Champagne became
embedded in popular culture
It fuelled the Belle Époque, lubricated the Roaring
’20s and floated the conspicuous consumption of the
’80s. Its success is built on strong foundations.
For a start, the product is damn good. The unique
climate and geology of France’s northernmost wine
region shapes an utterly unique offering. Sparkling
wines can be made in other wine regions, but even
the best of them can’t replicate the finesse, elegance
and drive of those from Champagne.
And it’s quality delivered on a relatively large scale.
While most of the world’s finest wines are made so
by rarity, the signature cuveés from the Grandes
Marques of Champagne
are measured in the millions
of bottles.
That the quality inside them
isso high is simply remarkable.
It makes Champagne a
relatively affordable luxury,
never cheap, but accessible to
many. And worth every cent.
But that doesn’t stop the
leading Champagne houses from
continuing to evolve and innovate
in the luxury marketing space.
Louis Roederer has a co-
production with designer Philippe
Starck and Dom Pérignon has
collaborated with Jeff Koons and
Karl Lagerfeld. Jean-Paul Gaultier
once wrapped bottles of Piper-
Heidsieck in red vinyl corsets and
Jay-Z owns a stake in the name-
checked Champagne house
Armand de Brignac.
Still, few have done it better,
than the venerable house of Perrier-Jouët.
The maison’s prestige cuveé Belle Epoque is
perhaps the most recognisable bottle of wine in the
world. Adorned since 1964 with a painted Japanese
anemone created by French Art Nouveau master
Émile Gallé, it’s an aesthetic cue that Perrier-Jouët
continues to push in bold directions.
Allowing those botanical fronds to entwine
unexpected places has been the inspiration behind
a global series of pop-up Perrier-Jouët experiences
that seek to “enwilden” some of the world’s most
urbanised locations.
At London Design Festival in 2015 Austrian
designers mischer’traxler installed 250 mouth-blown
glass bubbles encasing tiny insects laser-cut from foil
as homage to the House’s Art Nouveau traditions.
Earlier this year, GQ travelled to Tokyo to check
out L’Eden – a sensorily seductive installation in
the heart of the city’s Shibuya district.
At the bottom of the multi-level space,
a recreation of Perrier-Jouët’s L’Eden cellar in
Epernay played host to guests plied with food from
chef Akrame Benallal. Across other levels, abundant
foliage and flowers shaped small bar spaces where
the House’s Blanc de Blancs flowed freely. It all
led to the key artistic component of the night,
a spectacular interactive video art piece by Miguel
Chevalier where exotic flowers grew triffid-like
across huge screens, reacting and responding
tothe movements of approaching viewers.
For a week a small part of Shibuya became
something else entirely. Part Champagne cellar
carved out of chalk, part botanical wonderland,
part Michelin-starred restaurant, and 100 per
cent Champagne luxury.T H E CR E AT OR S OF CH A MP A GNE D I D N’ T J US T I NVE NT WI NE WI T H
B UB UB B L E S I NB B L E S I N I T, T H E Y F O I T, T H E Y F OR GR GE D T H E I D E A T H AT A L I QE D T H E I D E A T H AT A L I QUUI D C OI D C OUUL D B E L D B E
A WA WAY OAY OF L I F E ; T H AT WF L I F E ; T H AT WI NI NE I S A S TAT E OE I S A S TAT E OF MF MI NI ND A ND A ND A CD A CE L E B R AT I OE L E B R AT I ON N
I S OI S ONNLY WLY WOOR T H Y OR T H Y OF T H E D E S CF T H E D E S CR I P T I OR I P T I ONN W WH E NH E N I T ’ S F U I T ’ S F UE L L E D B Y F I Z Z .E L L E D B Y F I Z Z.
CHA MPAGNE
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