Visitors to Vinexpo will have the privilege of seeing an
extremely rare bottle of an exceptional liqueur that bears witness to the rich
history of Marie Brizard.
This extraordinary piece comes from the cellar of one of the
most important private collectors in the world, Michel-Jack Chasseuil.
Among his 40,000 bottles, Chasseuil identified the 100 rarest
specimens, and grouped them together in a book (100 Extraordinary Bottles: From
the Most Beautiful Wine Cellar in the World - Cellar, published by Firefly
Books). In this selection, he chose to present a liqueur of Marie Brizard
Danzig*, dating from 1912, linked to the fate of the famous Titanic.
He bought this treasure in 1988, at an auction in Versailles,
and explains that on the day of the sale, fortunately, snow was falling
heavily, and discouraged most of the potential buyers.
The fact that this was 9 years before the release of James
Cameron’s film, Titanic, also explains the lack of interest from other bidders.
The auctioneer however explained the extraordinary history of these two
bottles.
Indeed, the descendants of Louis Renault, the founder of the
Renault cars, had put them on sale. According to him, his ancestor wanted to
cross the Atlantic in April 1912 aboard the notorious steamer but for unknown
reasons, had not been able to realise his dream.
On the other hand, he had learned that Marie Brizard liqueur
“with golden glitter” was to be served on board during the voyage. At that
time, this kind of alcohol, enhanced with gold leaf, had the reputation of
purifying one’s blood. Louis Renault thus hastened to search and appropriate a
few bottles of this precious liquid and, as they say, the rest is history!
Hall 1, Stand BD287
* The liqueur of Danzig or Danzig, German and historic name of
Gdańsk, created by a Dutchman in the 16th century, based on roots and herbs,
with the peculiarity of including 22-23 carat gold shards
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