Daniel Arsham and Benoît Gouez at the Moet & Chandon Collection Imperiale launch.
Photo: stephane cardinale
Moët & Chandon Marks 280th Anniversary with Major Daniel Arsham Collaboration
The acclaimed artist designed a monumental piece that will be a permanent fixture in the cellars of the legendary Champagne house
Moet & Chandon’s Collection Imperiale launch. Photo: Jacques Habbah
Coinciding with the finale of Paris Fashion Week, Moët & Chandon hosted an intimate soirée in the 18th-century Hôtel de Bourienne, a privately owned hôtel particulier, or mansion, to unveil the first cuvée in its latest collection: Impériale Création No. 1, a multi-vintage brut nature. “This is my vision of haute couture for Moët & Chandon—it’s a timeless classic, like a petite robe noire (little black dress),” said cellar master Benoît Gouez during a four-course dinner conjured by three Michelin-starred chef Yannick Alléno. “Every vintage is unique, but with Collection Impériale, we’re playing with time and reaching a new level of complexity.”
A tribute to founder Claude Moët and the Champagne house’s 280th anniversary, the multilayered Champagne is the first cuvée d’exception produced in 90 years and took 23 years to craft. The assemblage includes seven top vintages from Moët & Chandon’s reserve wine library—one of the largest in the Champagne region—each aged in stainless steel tanks, oak casks, or on lees in bottle. “It transcends the perception of time,” said Gouez, who has been with the house for 25 vintages. “It’s a Champagne that needs to breathe to show its complexity—it reveals itself layer by layer.”
Benoît Gouez and Yannick Alleno at the Moet & Chandon Collection Imperiale launch. Photo: stephane cardinale
The co-host of the evening, Daniel Arsham, created 85 sculptural shells to go along with limited-edition bottles of the cuvée. The pièce de résistance—a 9.8-ft.-long, 4.3-ft.-high wall-mounted relief—was unveiled in the manicured gardens outside the former residence that once housed Napoleon Bonaparte’s inner circle. Crafted from cast resin (a nod to Champagne’s characteristically chalky soil) with images of vineyards, Château de Saran (the Moët family’s hunting lodge-turned-private residence), and Greek deity Pheme, goddess of fame, the piece will be placed on public display in Moët & Chandon’s cellars.
Relief by Daniel Arsham. Photo: jacques habbah
“When we think about the process of making art, it’s often about alchemy—the material transformation,” said Arsham, who visited the house a year and a half ago for inspiration for his pieces. “Just as you’re manipulating form to create an experience or meaning, with this new collection, you’re combining eras and using variations in harvests, these moments in time, to create a new scenario, a new Champagne.”
Cover: Daniel Arsham and Benoît Gouez at the Moet & Chandon Collection Imperiale launch.
Photo: stephane cardinale
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