English fizz brand launches £10k format

Not to be outdone by Champagne, English sparkling wine producer Chapel Down is embracing the trend for bottling fizz in large formats.

The Kent-based winery has released a single 15-litre Nebuchadnezzar containing its Blanc de Blancs 2007, which will go on show at Margate’s Turner Contemporary today, alongside the gallery’s summer exhibition Curiosity: Art and the Pleasures of Knowing.

Chapel Down intends to decorate the bottle, which has been produced to celebrate the gallery’s one-millionth visitor, and sell it to raise money for Turner Contemporary.

The wine producer has set a reserve price of £10,000 for the Nebuchadnezzar, which it plans to auction when the gallery’s summer exhibition closes on 15 September.

Before it’s auctioned however, Chapel Down will use the large format bottle as a striking piece of advertising by placing it in restaurants and bars around the UK.

According to Chapel Down, the 26kg Nebuchadnezzar is the equivalent of 10 magnums or 120 glasses and contains around 60 million bubbles.

Outside the UK sparkling wine industry, Champagne producers have for some time been leaders in large format fizz, with Armand de Brignac proving particularly active when it comes to vast bottles.

In May this year the prestige cuvée, produced by Cattier, launched a “Dynastie” collection priced at US$500,000 comprising nine different bottles of Armand de Brignac Brut Gold NV, ranging from a standard 75cl bottle to a 30 litre Midas.

For a full list of all possible Champagne formats, click here.

The Armand de Brignac “Dynastie” collection