This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
News
Gambler buys most expensive Champagne in the world
A professional gambler spent £168,118 in one night on Champagne and luxury spirits in a London club after seeing his friend Jon Bon Jovi perform in the city over the weekend.
Don Johnson (pictured, in red cap) from Pennsylvania spent £120,000 on a Midas (30 litre bottle) of Armand de Brignac, reputed to be the world’s most expensive Champagne, at the One for One Club on Park Lane.
He followed up the purchase – which he liberally sprayed his fellow party guests with before offering it round – with a £25,000 Methuselah of Armand de Brignac, a £750 magnum of Dom Pérignon 2002 and a £420 magnum of Grey Goose vodka.
Nik Krasniq, the club’s floor manager, told The Daily Telegraph: “Everyone was gathered round his table and he was on the microphone singing Bon Jovi songs, screaming ‘I love London’.
“He was hugging the bottle and everyone in the club was going wild. When he left, the ceiling, the floor and everyone in the club was covered in Champagne.
“His goal is to be the biggest spender ever in nightclubs all over the world.â€
Martin Watts, managing director at Cellar Trends (the UK distributor for Armand de Brignac) Commented on the sale of the only Midas bottle in Europe: “Our brand ambassador for Armand de Brignac received an order from OneForOne Park Lane members club early on Saturday. The club had an important client in town for the weekend who had specifically requested the Midas however, unsure of which night he would visit, the members club required the bottle to be at the venue by 5pm Saturday evening.
“The logistics of getting a bottle format of this size and value from the warehouse in Manchester to London at such short notice was really down to the team at Cert Octavian.
“Making this sale was a great team effort from Cellar Trends and our supply partners. Our sales guys, along with the wholesaler Vanquish, did a great job in identifying the sale opportunity and Cert Octavian pulled out all the stops in getting the stock to the Club on time on a Saturdayâ€.
Johnson has such a reputation in the US that he is banned from a number of casinos.
He made his fortune when he cleaned out three Atlantic City casinos in a high stakes card game that netted him US$15 million.
Apparently Johnson doesn’t even like the taste of Champagne, preferring vodka instead. Onefor One has a track record in selling Armand de Brignac having sold a Nebuchadnezzar of the brand to an anonymous buyer for £80,000 last year.
Rupert Millar, 29.06.2011