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Japanese Rock Star YOSHIKI launches Champagne brand

30 August 2022 By Alice Liang

The Japanese rock star and leader of X JAPAN has announced a Champagne collaboration with Champagne Pommery.

Jointly established with Champagne Pommery, “Y by YOSHIKI x CHAMPAGNE POMMERY Brut” will be released on 1 September in Japan.

It is the first time that Pommery has co-released a new label with a celebrity artist. According to the brand, the discussion of the project started in 2019, with the French fizz house sharing the same forward-thinking vision as YOSHIKI.

The Champagne is a blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, sourced from 40 villages in the Côte des Blancs and Montagne de Reims.

YOSHIKI has also been actively involved in the Champagne making process to create his blend, which the brand describes as “delicate and rich, with freshness and elegance.”

Aged in bottle for a minimum of 42 months, the brand’s official tasting notes described, “an elegant, bright and lively first note, with a rich and round palate, and a lingering long finish”.

The bottle is priced at JPY 16,500 in retail.

Nathalie Vranken, co-owner of Vranken-Pommery Monopole, and YOSHIKI

YOSHIKI already has a wine brand named “Y by YOSHIKI”, which he launched in 2009. Working in collaboration with Rob Mondavi Jr., 4th generation Napa Valley winemaker and grandson of Robert Mondavi, the artist has garnered winemaking experience for more than a decade and has released products that are highly sought-after in Japan.

In 2019, he launched a new blend of “smart casual wine” as part of his “California series”, which aims make affordable wines for more people to enjoy.

The “Y by YOSHIKI California Chardonnay 2017” and “Y by YOSHIKI California Cabernet Sauvignon 2017” sold out within 6 months.

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