Beloved of celebrities, these limited edition special blends sometimes come in specially created bottles, like Perrier Jouet's La Belle Epoque which is engraved with art nouveau anemones, and are often enclosed in fancy cases - and no wonder as they sell for between $200 and $500 a bottle.
They can vary in style from the rich butterscotch and mineral notes of La Belle Epoque 1999, and the big, nutty, but surprisingly elegant Pol Roger's Cuvee Winston Churchill 1998, to the yeasty but refined Dom Perignon 2000, or the Marmite and citrus, but enormously long, charming and understated Roederer Cristal 2002.
As with all good wines, if you pay attention, you can savour the long aftertaste.
These wines, tasted at a recent Wine Federation of Otago meeting, are undoubtedly fine but their perceived rarity, image, reputation and packaging push up the price.
However, for those without the deep pockets or the desire for conspicuous display, some of the top New Zealand sparklings can offer good value - such as Cloudy Bay Pelorus (best cellared for a few years), some of Daniel Le Brun's No 1 Family wines including the new rosé, Quartz Reef vintage wines, or the Deutz Marlborough sparkling wines, particularly the Blanc de Blanc.
Deutz has just brought out its own prestige cuvée 2005 (about $37).
Packaged in a smart black box, it hints of freshly baked bread and creamy hazelnuts, and finishes with a crisp hint of citrus.
It joins the Deutz Marlborough Cuvée ($35), the rosé, and blanc de blancs ($37) in this Pernod Ricard brand which was developed in partnership with the French Deutz brand of Champagne.
