By Andrew Starke
The world’s largest bottle of champagne has sold for £120,000 to a US businessman and professional gambler dubbed ‘The Champagne King’ amid scenes of wild celebration in London.
The 30L Midas bottle of Armand de Brignac Brut Gold Champagne (seen here next to a regular bottle) was purchased at London’s exclusive members club OneForOne Park Lane by Don Johnson, who generously treated the entire club’s partygoers to glasses of Champagne.
Weighing in at 45kg and holding the equivalent to 40 regular-sized bottles, the rare large-format bottle’s name comes from King Midas, remembered in Greek mythology for the ability to turn whatever he touched into gold.
The bottle sold in London is one of only six in existence and the first to be sold in Europe.
It allegedly took three strong men at OneForOne to carry the bottle into the venue and pour it each time someone wanted a drink.
OneForOne also held the previous record for the most expensive bottle of Champagne sold in London – a 15L Armand de Brignac Nebuchadnezzar Champagne bottle, which was purchased by an anonymous European businessman for £80,000.
Along with the £120,000 Armand de Brignac Midas Champagne bottle, Johnson also bought a 6L Armand de Brignac Methuselah for £25,000.
Armand de Brignac Champagne is also no stranger to headlines, recently making news around the world when the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks and the NHL’s Boston Bruins both chose to celebrate their Championship victories with the luxury Champagne brand.
The top-rated Champagne is a prestige cuvée handcrafted using old-world techniques by a staff of just eight people in a single-family owned vineyard and house established in 1763 in Chigny-les-Roses, France.
Don Johnson (with cap) prepares to open his purchase