Champagne for the Campaign: Armand de Brignac “Ace of Spades”

The Second Glass was sent a bottle of the uber premium Armand de Brignac “Ace of Spades” Champagne (retail value = $300). You may have seen this gold bottle on Jay-Z and Beyonce’s table at his 40/40 Club in New York. That’s because the rapper ditched his beloved Cristal after the President of Roederer Estates made some offensive remarks about their product and the hip-hop community. Now, Jay-Z drinks this stuff exclusively.

Given the wine’s “celebrity status” I figured there was no better night to uncork it than election night. I went to The Savant Project where I was greeted by close to one hundred screaming people, filling in election maps and pounding blue and red drinks.

So, what’s the biggest difference between a $100 bottle of Champagne and a $300 bottle? About $200.

High-end Champagne falls into two basic categories. The first, is intense mineral, yeasty, bready, apple, pear or other flavors that captivate all of your senses. The 1998 Dom Perignon ($150) did this to me. It is has a great minerality and – even though I only got 4 hours of sleep – I woke up tasting green apples on my lips.

The second category of high-end Champagne is subtle deliciousness. When I first tried the 1996 Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame, I could only describe it as drinking angels. The flavors danced over my tongue and effortlessly swept down my throat.

The Armand de Brignac “Ace of Spades” falls into the latter category. It was so smooth and easy to drink that it’s difficult to describe without sounding cheezy. Think of ballerina’s tip-toe-ing across your tongue. This is a wine that you could drink bottle after bottle of, and never get that “I can’t drink anymore” flavor in your mouth. If I were forced to drink one thing for the rest of my life, it would be a Champagne like this.

Now for the $100,000 question: is it worth the price?

Think of it like a fancy Italian sports car. If you can’t afford the garage, insurance, regular repairs and having another car to actually fit more than a handbag in, it will just dissapoint you. It doesn’t taste like $300 and it isn’t ten times better than a $30 bottle of bubbly.

That said, if you do have the cash and you’re willing to spend it on a little bit of oppulance – the gold bottle is fuckin’ B-A-L-L-E-R!!! Impress the crap out of your friends, get laid, drink it out of a pimp cup like our girl Maureen.

The most important thing to understand is if you’re going to spend your hard-earned cash on a consumable status symbol, enjoy the hell out of it, because once the last drop is poured down the hatch, it’s gone.

Drink more wine!