When Manchester United shoot for goal at Hong Kong Stadium next month their own private bubbly will be fizzing in the private boxes. The venerable House of Lanson from France is doing a special bottling for the football team; drink a couple of flutes of this stuff and you'll prance around like Ryan Giggs.
You don't have to be a professional footballer, however, to enjoy Lanson. The Black Label dry version of the noble champagne ($260 retail) is on restaurant wine lists, on sale in wine shops and served by some airlines.
This is a classic champagne. The colour sparkles, the explosive bubbles literally get up your nose and the taste is invigorating and sprightly on the palate. It is a joy to drink.
It is also classic in its composition with pinot noir, chardonnay and meunier grapes blended to give a bright, full wine that hints of a lemony lightness. This is the perfect pre-luncheon aperitif.
The company was founded in 1760 by Jean-Baptiste Lanson, a jovial magistrate in the regional capital of Reims. As the idea of wine with bubbles spread across Europe, Lanson became a source of champagne for the monarchs of Spain, Sweden and England. Today it is a major part of the Marne and Champagne group, the second largest sparkling wine house of the region and the largest family-owned firm.
The grapes come from more than 120 villages and 320 hectares of vine spread across the chalky soils of the region. Because the secret of a great champagne is in the delicate blending process, it gives strength to a house to source its wines from as many prime vineyards as possible. Most Lanson champagnes contain grapes from more than 50 different wines.
Output is enormous, with up to 160,000 bottles a day being dispatched and with 70 million bottles slowly maturing in the deep, man-made cavernous cellars dug through the limestone. The cellars stretch for seven kilometres, all lined with champagne.