Exceptional Commitment: Bugatti & Champagne Carbon

The road to perfection is long and the journey to excellence is a continous one. It takes time to create anything really unique and that requires high-quality supplies, expert labour, and meticulous planning.

Bugatti and its official champagne partner, Champagne Carbon both shares this ethos.

Alexandre Mea, the fifth-generation successor of the Devavry family, who founded their viniculture in Champillon in 1920 (coincidentally, just eleven years after Ettore Bugatti founded his facility 300 kilometres to the east), founded Champagne Carbon in 2011.

The Devavry family has a long history as modest but highly regarded viticulturists, but Alexandre Mea recognised an opportunity to create something even more exceptional than his grandfather's early vintages. Champagne Carbon was released in 2011, after more than four years of research and development into a carbon-coated bottle to contrast the typical selected and hand-processed grapes from the 15-hectare vineyard.

Everyone on the team, including CEO Alexandre Mea, hand-harvests only the finest fruits from Grand Cru and Premier Cru regions. Alexander keeps a close eye on how these grapes are maturing. Grapes can only be picked within a small window of time during harvest season when they have reached the optimal size, maturity, and colour. By building his house in the middle of the vineyard, Alexandre could ensure he was never more than a short distance from his finished product.

Similar to a Bugatti, the best possible outcome is attained by using carbon, which is why the company uses only the most sophisticated methods. When compared to larger manufacturers, Champagne Carbon is matured in wood barrels rather than stainless steel tanks. Due to evaporation, they need to be switched out, cleaned, and refilled carefully every day. Only one guy at Champagne Carbon's Maison tends to each and every barrel. These barrels are essential to the wine's development because they provide the wine with the wood's inherent flavour, particularly spicy overtones that give the wine a complexity and depth seldom seen in commercially produced wines.

The wine spends a few months in oak barrels before being bottled and ageing for at least six years in the Carbon cellar. Champagne Carbon for Bugatti is an artistic endeavour; no short cuts are used in the hunt for a masterpiece. The collection only includes "vintage" wines (those that have spent at least three years in the cellar in line with the Protected Appellation). Champagne should be crisp and delicate, with tiny bubbles and a rich flavour that comes from ageing for at least ten to twenty years.

Beautiful Champagne Carbon vintages are poured into bottles with the same care and precision that would be used to frame a priceless picture. Carbon fibre, used to encase the bottle, through 37 laborious processes in production and comes in a wide range of aesthetic treatments. This clever feature blocks out the sun, protecting the wine within and extending its shelf life.

CEO Alexandre Mea of Champagne Carbon said,

"We have always aimed for excellence with Carbon. Each of our champagne tastings is unique, from the way we approach it to the way the bottles are presented to the unique sensations we each take away. Our business partner Bugatti shares this passion for perfection. We have a same goal of revolutionising our fields by creating something really groundbreaking. Our vision is deeply rooted in the idea that we should always be pushing ourselves to the limit in order to properly honour our history while also making our imprint on the future'.

Champagne Carbon and Bugatti's relationship was announced officially in 2018. The two companies were motivated to work together by a shared dedication to excellence. Champagne Carbon recognises Bugatti's place in history. The B.01 was their first offering, and they released a Chardonnay and Pinot Noir blend to celebrate Bugatti's 110th anniversary in 2002. Carbon Vinotheque introduced its newest wine, B.02, the following year. To celebrate the first year after the Chiron Super Sport 300+1 became the first production car to exceed 300 miles per hour, a special 2006 vintage of Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru was made. Almond and baked bread aromas come through. It has the same design as the world-record-setting vehicle, a sleek black carbon fibre with bright orange accents.

In 2021, La Bouteille Noire became the most visually arresting representation of their connection. The 15-liter bottle of 2000 vintage wine was housed in a one-of-a-kind carbon-fiber sculpture portraying La Voiture Noire2, Bugatti's haute couture masterwork. A stainless steel button, lit by a gentle blue light, opens and closes the case. A piece of laser-cut aluminium resembling the centre fin of the Type 57 SC Atlantic adorns the doors, which swing open on high-tech hinges and a bespoke gearbox to reveal a plush interior. When the doors begin to open, another machine will release the bottle's cork.

This year marks the first time a B.03 has been built for the Champagne Carbon For Bugatti Collection with a two-tone exterior of blue and black carbon fibre. The exceptional performance and aesthetic of the Bugatti Bolide3 served as inspiration. The iconic 'X' pattern seen on the front and rear of the Bolide vehicle is etched on both the right and left sides of the B.03 bottle. A wet and cold winter, a dreary spring, and a tardy grape harvest all contributed to the 2013 Blanc de Blancs shown here. Because of these factors, the resulting wine is robust and refreshing.

"Champagne Carbon is a company with so many similarities to our own," said Wiebke Sthl, Managing Director of Bugatti International. "From its century-old tradition and stunning location to its great focus on quality and perfection, regardless of the level of complexity, Champagne Carbon is a company with so many similarities to our own." We've been working together for four years now, and in that time Bugatti has made some very exceptional vintage champagnes and odd bottles.