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 We may never known if and how much it benefited Chandon India in free publicity but Chandon Australia had been loosely secured as the podium sparkling wine in Formula 1 last year after the 15-year Agreement with Pernod Ricard’s G.H. Mumm ended in 2015. Formula One management did not have any formal deal ready to replace them in 2016. As a result Australian sparkling wine Chandon was brought in at the last minute to supply the F1 at the Melbourne2016 podium, to be followed on a race by race basis.
According to Telegraph Chandon, a Moet Hennessy-owned sparkling wine that sponsors McLaren and has wineries in Argentina, the United States, Brazil, Australia, India and China, slid in as the temporary replacement without any fanfare. It was used last season and in 2017 for most of the season until recently. Monaco, Canada and Baku had brought in Carbon Champagne onto the podium but with no confirmation from Carbon on any formal Agreement.
Each bottle of Champagne Carbon comes wrapped in carbon cloth, a process that took four years to develop and which requires a master craftsman a full week for each bottle and 21 highly precise steps to complete. Inside each bottle is Blanc de Blanc Grand Cru Millesime Chardonnay 2009. The top three drivers at each F-1 Grand Prix will now onwards receive Jeroboam bottle (4 bottles of 750 mL for champagnes =3 Liters) each with unique markers- Gold for the winner, Silver for the second-placed driver and Bronze for the final podium finisher, according to Formula1.com. Each bottle costs $3000 if at all one can find it anywhere.
Alexandre Mea, CEO of Champagne Carbon reportedly says, ‘ My family has been involved in making champagne for almost two centuries and has been a producer since 1920, around the same time that the first true golden era of Grand Prix racing began. Since then we have always sought to be different, to set new standards and to chase the dream of creating the finest champagnes possible.’
Traditionally, one was accustomed to hear the roar of ‘champaagne’ near the Formula 1 race podiums when the three winners popped the bottles and sprayed on each other. The sole exception has been the Grand Prix at Abu Dhabi and Bahrain where non-alcoholic rosewater is sprayed due to the alcohol ban. This roar had been turned insipid and timid with the roars of ‘Celebration’ until the return of the champagne again.
 Champagne spraying at the car races is a tradition that started 50 years ago, after a driver accidentally sprayed the crowd at the 1966 Le Mans 24-hour race when the cork shot out of a bottle of Moet Chandon warmed up by the sunshine, thus increasing the pressure inside the bottle making bubbles rush out at faster than the normal gusto.
Spectators may not be as happy with Carbon though. Earlier, the die-hards could go to the local pubs and drink away Mumm to celebrate victory of their favourite team. But Carbon is neither available easily nor is it affordable.
It also leaves the question unanswered why Ferrari sparkling wine company near Trento has not teamed up with the race in any way. During my visit to the winery about a decade ago I was told that a long-term arrangement had already been made between Mumm and the organisers. One would think that Ferrari would in any case be the perfect choice for the winery to sponsor team Ferrari. Maybe that was the reason the organisers shied away from making any arrangements with the company.
Cheers! Jai Ho!!
Subhash Arora |