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FESTIVE FIZZ

Published:  23 July, 2008

Selfridges will be stocking the Champagne Taittinger Cool-Air tube this Christmas. The tube, which has been created specially for Taittinger's Brut Rserve NV Cuve, keeps chilled bottles cool for up to four hours. The Cool-Air tube was developed by packaging company Robinson and is made of recycled cardboard. The Taittinger pack retails for 33.50.

Champagne Lanson has launched its 1997 Vintage under its Gold Label for this year's festivities. Lanson says that its Vintage Champagnes are only made from grapes with a Grand Cru origin, providing an exceptional wine with a fine stream of small, delicate bubbles'. Lanson's Gold Label Vintage 1997 retails at 29.99.

GH Mumm has unveiled a new look for its range in time for Christmas. The new design is based around the brand's red sash, the Cordon Rouge, which symbolises the Legion of Honour, the highest civilian award in France, established by Napoleon in 1802. The company admitted that the brand lacked signs of a strong heritage', hence the change. Different-coloured foils have also been introduced, in part to make selection easier in on-trade outlets, where bottles are stored horizontally.

Thirty-five chefs have devised recipes to accompany the 1998 vintage of Don Prignon in The Collection, a new book that delves into our greatest pastimes - eating, drinking and entertaining'. The book includes interviews with Karl Lagerfeld, Sir Roger Moore and Lord Lloyd-Webber on the subject of food and wine. Chefs such as Tom Aikens, Michel Roux and Marco Pierre White have contributed recipes, and portraits of all 35 have been created by Stephane Gamain, in a subtle stylistic approach that echoes the early 20th-century woodcuts of Flix Valloton'. The standard hardback edition costs 40, but a limited-edition copy is also available, priced at 1,000, bound in dark sea-green Galuchat leather, with signed prints in each copy.

Mot Hennessy has enlisted fashion designer Emilio Pucci to create an ice jacket for its 1996 Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame Caprice' Champagne. Pucci was inspired by the island of Capri, and the company describes the jacket as evocative of the Capri jet-set lifestyle'. Limited to 12,000 bottles, Caprice is available at Selfridges, priced at 125.

With the glut of Christmas parties about to kick in, Nicolas Feuillatte is launching Blue Disco, a gift tin in sparkly '70s-style colours', containing a bottle of Nicolas Feuillatte Brut Rserve Particulire. The pack costs 20 from John Lewis. The company is also packaging its One Fo(u)r range in a transparent gift case, housing a 200ml bottle of the Brut (blue) or Brut Ros (pink), at 7.50 and 8.50 respectively.

Perrier Jout has designed an Art Nouveau-inspired box for its prestige cuve La Belle Epoque. The gift box is reminiscent of

the Belle Epoque bottle design first created in 1902 by artist Emile Gall and also includes two enamelled Champagne flutes. It will be available at Selfridges, Harrods, Fortnum & Mason and The Vintage House, priced 95.

Mot & Chandon has teamed up with top British fashion designer Matthew Williamson for a limited-edition Christmas gift box. The chinoiserie-inspired' box contains a bottle of Brut Ros and was created with de Gournay to celebrate Williamson's Fashion Tribute year. The pack costs 55 from Harvey Nichols stores.

Mot has also launched the Mot Swarovski Snowflake, which uses Crystal-it' technology and, according to the company, can be shared in a romantic tte--tte'. Priced at 35, the gift is available at Selfridges.

Champagne Krug is hoping that its Trilogy of Vintages will be a big seller this Christmas. For the first time, Krug has released three consecutive vintages - 1988, 1989 and 1990 - available individually or as a set. The Champagne house has also released a range of sommelier's accessories, including coolers made from polished pewter, a sommelier's apron and Champagne flutes. All items are available from retailers such as Jeroboams and Selfridges.

The Grand Sicle Luxury Christmas Cracker Set has been launched by Laurent-Perrier - six luxury red crackers packaged with a bottle of Laurent-Perrier Grand Sicle. Each cracker contains a Champagne riddle, silver-star confetti, a party hat and a coveted Laurent-Perrier bespoke gift'. The gift boxes are priced at 250.

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