Riverdale Wines engraves Champagne bottles to honour the Raptors…

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Jerry Gain from Riverdale Wines sent me an email this morning with an attachment and instructions to call him after I’d opened it. That’s exactly what I did because the attachment was the video above showing a rotating bottle of Champagne with a striking engraving. The bottle is decorated with an image of the Toronto Raptors mascot and a message of congratulations on the NBA team’s recent Eastern Conference Championships victory. Jerry had arranged for 150 bottles of the Champagne to be engraved just in time for the NBA Finals./p>

The Champagne is William Saintot Brut Blanc de Noirs Premier Cru, bottled in 2017 from a blend of the Saintot family’s Pinot Noir holdings around Rheims. Regular GFR visitors may remember my April interview with vigneron Morgann Trebutien about how his family achieves their trademark crisp complexity in their ‘grower Champagnes’. Regular Box Suite attendees to Raptors games at the ScotiaBank Arena may remember the Saintot Blanc de Noirs as one of the Champagnes available at the games, and no doubt there will bottles of it opened as the Raptors take on the Warriors in this year’s finals. Jerry figures those of us who won’t make it to a box suite in the next week or so, might sill like to celebrate with a glass of the Blanc de Noirs at home.

Jerry explained to me on the phone that it was a coincidence that the latest shipment of Saintot Blanc de Noirs was ready to be brought to market just as the Raptors won the Eastern Conference. Given the connection between the wine and the team, he thought it would be a fun idea to try and create a special bottle to commemorate the win and (fingers crossed) celebrate the big win. He expects the small run of 150 bottles to be passed through the LCBO’s paperwork by the end of the week, and has received orders for 20 of the special bottles already. The wine is being sold directly through Riverdale Wines for $175 a bottle (including shipping within the GTA, and Jerry expects it go quickly. He’s taking orders at 416 696 9979 or by email.

Full disclosure: Riverdale Wines is a Good Food Fighter. Please support the businesses and organizations that support Good Food Revolution.