The hip hop performer (Jay Zee) featured a bottle of Armand de Brignac in the video to his single Show Me What You Got, after falling out with the owners of Cristal, his previous bubbly of choice.
The garish gold bottle of Armand de Brignac chimed perfectly with the urban music industry’s “bling” culture of conspicuous consumption, propelling the previously unknown brand into competition with the big champagne houses including Dom Perignon and Krug.
Stars including David Beckham and George Clooney are among those won over to Armand de Brignac, which is referred to by drinkers as “Ace of Spades” after the image on its label.
Jacques Cattier, president of Cattier Champagne, Armand de Brignac’s producer with just 20 staff based in the village of Chigny Les Roses in Champagne-Ardennes, said he was astonished by the rise of the brand, which was only launched in 2006. The name – taken from the hero of a 1950s romantic novel – was suggested by his mother.
“We could not imagine the success we have had,” he told The Independent, saying that they could sell out their 60,000-bottle production run several times over.