Armand de Brignac is a collection of prestige cuvées launched in 2006 by Cattier. The name is a tribute to Nelly Cattier, mother to the President of Champagne Cattier Jean-Jacques Cattier, who happened upon a character in a novel called ‘M. De Brignac’ in the 1950s. The brand is also known as the ‘Ace of Spades’, following the suggestion of an American partner who recognised the potential difficulty of marketing a product internationally with a French, aristocratic name.
A team of just 8 people influence the entire process of Armand de Brignac, from pressing the fruit, to the bottle’s departure from the cellars in France. Each assemblage features a blend of a unique trio of vintages that combines grapes that showed the highest quality of the harvest and the first and freshest portion of the cuvée press. The bottles are aged a gated section of what is considered to be among the deepest cellars in Champagne, at more than 30 metres underground. To create the distinctive, gold bottles, each one is coated in metal, finished with the hand application of French pewter labels and polished. The specificity and complexity of this task means that only 20 bottles can be completed per person per hour, and that no two bottles are the same.
US music mogul Shawn Carter, also known as Jay Z, bought Armand de Brignac from New York wine and spirits company Sovereign Brands in November 2014. His first involvement coincided with the brand’s creation in 2006, when he featured the golden-bottled champagne in the music video for Show Me What You Got. His ability to promote with extraordinary displays, such as providing 350 bottles of the drink at a fundraiser for US President Barack Obama in 2012, has brought an incredible amount of attention to the brand, which led New York wine buyer Lyle Fass to describe his involvement as “probably the most brilliant marketing in the history of wine.” Indeed, Jay Z himself once said, I’m not a businessman, I’m a business, man.”
Armand de Brignac may be a young brand that has embraced modernity, with hip-hop endorsements and savvy marketing, but centuries of tradition and craft from Cattier has imparted substance to all the style. In 2010, Jose Penin gave the flagship Brut Gold cuvee 98/100 points (his highest ever rating for a Champagne), and it was rated the best Champagne in Fine Champagne magazine's tasting of 1,000 brands.
You can see for yourself if Armand de Brignac warrants the hype right here, from its core range to its 1.5L magnums, such as Armand de Brignac Blanc Ace of Spades Gold - Magnum (1.5L). This is, of course, the brand with the most extensive collection of large format bottles of any prestige champagne house.