Buyer spends $75G on bottle of champagne[plus tip of more than $15,000 at a London bar]

upi ^ | April 17, 2010

[JoeProBono]

LONDON, - A buyer believed to be a Russian tycoon spent $75,000 including tip on a bottle of Dom Perignon champagne at a London bar.

The purchase is believed to set a new record for a wine sale in Britain, The Daily Telegraph reported. The buyer plunked down 35,000 pounds (more than $50,000) for the methuselah of 1996 Rose Gold and added a tip of more than $15,000 on top of the service charge.

The upscale transaction took place at the Westbury Hotel on Tuesday at a party following a screening of a new movie, "Boogie Woogie."

The bottle was admittedly a large one, enough to treat several friends. A methuselah, named, like many of the larger wine bottles, after a Biblical character, holds 6 liters or 1.59 gallons of bubbly. The bottle, dipped in rose gold, is also worth more than the wine inside, even though the Dom Perignon 1996 Rose Gold is one of the most prized vintage champagnes.

''The 1996 vintage is regarded as one of the finest in the 20th-Century and with only 35 bottles produced per year, it's incredibly rare and sought-after," said Elias Yiallouri, the bar manager, who refused to identify the customer.

Some witnesses said the buyer spilled three glasses of the prized wine almost immediately.

[Moltke]

Guess he couldn't afford a melchizedek. Must be a second or third tier tycoon.

[JoeProBono]

[Gay State Conservative]

One night a wino came into our ER looking for detox (it was cold outside).We took a bottle of cheap wine off of him whose label boasted...at great length...about how the grapes used to make it were grown in....wait for it.....OHIO!

We laughed for hours at that one.

[Moltke]

That was quick!

[JoeProBono]

[Gay State Conservative]

I'll bet this guy has a lot in common with those clowns down in NC a few years ago who stole something like 10 million dollars from an armored car company.When the cops caught up with them they found that the thieves had spent hundreds of thousands on the cheapest looking “white trash” stuff you can imagine.

[JoeProBono]

[cardinal4]

I could tell a great story about a South Carolina honkytonk, a one legged biker bartender, Mad Dong 20/20, a Ford pick up, a rather, er, big boned woman, and a guy named Wild Bill from Fort Mill, but I don’t remember any of it..

[JoeProBono]

[bert]

[EDINVA]

you spurn his gesture to ‘maintain the common touch?’

Isn’t this the dude who owns the worlds two largest yachts?
I guess we don’t want to know where his rubles come from.

[Ax]

I’m certain that all of his riches were legally come by. Not.

[cardinal4]

of course I meant “Mad DOG 20/20..

Wait, were you there??

[Tainan]

I was always more of a Pagan Pink man myself.
I found the fruity effervescence intriguing, yet satisfying either chilled or at room temperature.
Went equally well with pork skins or doritos for those al fresco dining moments.
The easy-open screw cap removed the worry for that spur-of-the-moment enjoyment.
An especially thoughtful touch was the textured glass bottle. No worrys about dropping it while sharing or when pedestrian navigation became troublesome.