Outside the gates of the world’s first super boutique hotel in London, Bugatti’s most exclusive tailor-made supercar, ‘La Voiture Noire’, is quietly illuminated in a sleek glass box. Hailed as the highest-priced new car ever made, the $18.5 million all-black Bugatti is the central showpiece wherever it goes. But, on this occasion, La Voiture Noire was on display to promote its equally luxurious namesake: Champagne Carbon’s hand-crafted ‘La Bouteille Noire’.
Hailing from the Grand Est region in France, Bugatti and Champagne Carbon are radical innovators devoted to luxury and perfection, ideals honed by their rich histories of expert craftsmanship. In the words of Managing Director at Bugatti International, Wiebke Stahl, Bugatti and Champagne Carbon share the vital ethos that their creations are ‘not just cars’ or drinks but ‘works of art, delivered with perfection in every detail’.
Founded first in 2018, the Bugatti and Champagne Carbon partnership previously collaborated on ‘ƎB.01’, a 90% Chardonnay and 10% Pinot Noir of grapes plucked in the most illustrious terroirs of Champagne from a 2002 vintage — a year of superb weather conditions and, fittingly, of Bugatti’s tireless modelling of the first Veyron.
This year, to mirror the unequalled grandeur of La Voiture Noire, Champagne Carbon’s La Bouteille Noire is revealed as the single most luxurious champagne bottle and case in the world.
The flowing black features of La Voiture are perfectly simulated in La Bouteille right down to the 314 sheets of prepreg carbon fibre in the case. This material, meticulously crafted by Bugatti partner and carbon fibre masters IXO, is more often found in Bugatti’s line-up of cutting-edge supercars. Alongside fourteen premium fans to circulate cool air, an automatic solid-state thermodynamic cooling cell also sits within — a technology not only found on land but in space, inside orbiting satellites.
A steel button illuminated by a vivid blue light opens and closes the case, operating sleek doors trimmed with laser-cut aluminium. Revealed inside is the same fine Havana Brown grain leather that lines La Voiture Noire, providing a rich contrast to the bottle itself. Just as La Voiture is illuminated in London, La Bouteille stands on a striking red-light base — a careful nod to the fluid, jointless rear light that sits on the back of the Bugatti.
Of the Champagne itself, Alexandre Mea, CEO of Champagne Carbon, says: “With a creation as spectacular as ‘La Bouteille Noire’ it was only right that we pair it with one of our most spectacular vintages. On this occasion, we have chosen a 2000 Vintage blend of 60% Chardonnay and 40% Pinot Noir.”
“Celebrating the beginning of a new millennium, the year 2000 was marked by a relatively mild winter followed by a succession of summer temperatures throughout the flowering period. It’s characterized by rich notes of vegetables, pepper and white fruits – the result of the finest Grands Crus that the Champagne vineyards offer us. Each one brings its own surprises to magnify this cuvee.”
Bugatti’s La Voiture Noire will stand outside of five-star super-boutique hotel The Londoner until the 1st December following a private launch event.