Coppola's Canned Champers

[dbrociner]

Produced by Francis Ford Coppolla for his daughter Sofia's wedding and made available shortly thereafter. Purchased by me for my daughter, Sophia, who was born in 2000, the vintage year of the champagne. I have a case and in the back of my mind I've always wondered if this would hold up long enough for my daughter to actually enjoy it. I didn't start to really appreciate champagne until I was 30. Has anyone drank this? I think I paid around $25 a bottle, I honestly can't remember. I figured we'd open a bottle on Oscar night and toast Bill Murray and Sofia Coppolla for their little movie which we liked even if we might be puzzled by all the fuss its generated. Separately, do you think this wine will go up in value as Ms. Coppolla's career advances? She's white hot right now and my Sophia could use the money in her college fund more than the champagne anyway. Thanks.

David

Edited February 6, 2004 by dbrociner (log)

[Carolyn Tillie]

I actually called Niebaum-Coppola for you and asked your very question. They say that it should not be lied down for more than three years.

Based on that, you better start drinking!

p.s. - I've never tasted it, but if you want to send me a bottle, I'll be happy the make sure it is okay for you to drink!

[dbrociner]

I actually called Niebaum-Coppola for you and asked your very question. They say that it should not be lied down for more than three years.

Based on that, you better start drinking!

p.s. - I've never tasted it, but if you want to send me a bottle, I'll be happy the make sure it is okay for you to drink!

Thanks for the effort and based on your report we'll start popping those corks! And we'd be glad to share a bottle, just come to NJ and we'll go to any number of good byo's and drink ourselves a little silly. Isn't that what champagne is for?

[Elissa]

Dear god but that is vile swill.

Opening it in tandem with a bottle of Krug however would provide a grand education.

Edited February 8, 2004 by Elissa (log)

[Carolyn Tillie]

Yeah, I wasn't sure if this should go into the Media/News forum of the Wine forum and I put it here...

In today's Spectator, Those Who Can, Do: Niebaum-Coppola Packages Sofia in Aluminum - With the success of her last film, Lost in Translation, writer/director Sofia Coppola’s name is appearing everywhere these days, from movie marquees to magazine newsstands. You can even find it on an aluminum can of sparkling wine. That’s right -- a can.

You gotta look at the article, just to see the picture!!! A Blanc de Blancs no less!

I haven't even eaten breakfast yet and my stomach is already ready to hurl...

[lala]

Interesting. While I certainly enjoy the little bottles of champers (great for us single gals!), I'm not loving the idea of any wine in a can, let alone a sparkler. Kind of puts it on the level of soda, doesn't it?

[LindaJ]

Is the sparkler any good normally? I can see a whole mountain of issues with preserving quality by putting it in a can - heat shock comes to mind. But overall, if it's sparkling wine, I'll drink it at least once

[futronic]

Interesting. While I certainly enjoy the little bottles of champers (great for us single gals!), I'm not loving the idea of any wine in a can, let alone a sparkler. Kind of puts it on the level of soda, doesn't it?

Pfft ... little bottles ... Just drink the whole thing!

I drank more than half a bottle in celebration of finishing my last university exam (ever!) on Tuesday, and I easily could have finished the rest if I wasn't sharing with a friend!

Edited April 29, 2004 by futronic (log)

[Miguelito]

Ah, echoes of youthful prank-calls involving Prince Albert tobacco:

(Phone liquor store)

"Do you have Sofia in a can?" "Yes." "Well, you'd better let her out!"

(Hang up.)

(Giggle like 10-year-old.)

[Fat Guy]

Presumably the methode Champenoise is not performed in the can!

[KatieLoeb]

Presumably the methode Champenoise is not performed in the can!

You could riddle the cans, but the temptation to then open them pointed at someone might be too great!

[Brad Ballinger]

Presumably the methode Champenoise is not performed in the can!

It might lose a little something in translation for me.

Than you, I'll be here all week.

[KatieLoeb]

Presumably the methode Champenoise is not performed in the can!

It might lose a little something in translation for me.

Than you, I'll be here all week.

Don't forget to tip your bartenders and waitresses...

[lala]

Interesting. While I certainly enjoy the little bottles of champers (great for us single gals!), I'm not loving the idea of any wine in a can, let alone a sparkler. Kind of puts it on the level of soda, doesn't it?

Pfft ... little bottles ... Just drink the whole thing!

I drank more than half a bottle in celebration of finishing my last university exam (ever!) on Tuesday, and I easily could have finished the rest if I wasn't sharing with a friend!

Congrats on your last exam!

While it can be fun to sip through a whole bottle of bubbly, sadly, as I get older, I'm less and less able to imbibe in such a manner. *sigh* And as I drink less, my tolerance goes down, so I get goofy faster... it's an evil, downward spiral...

[winebill]

Do I have to pay "Poppage" if I bring it to a Restaurant?

[StudentChefEclipse]

I saw this at the local high-end food and wine emporium: SOFIA blanc de blancs in a rose-colored can smaller than a can of Coca-Cola. It came with a special straw. The idea put me off so much I didn't get many other details, but now I wish I had. Am I being a wine-snob here? Comments?

[Fat Guy]

As packaging, I've got no problem with the can: the plastic-lined cans don't interact significantly with the product so they're great for short-term storage and conveyance because they're so durable. The straw idea, however, is a bad one: wine is more enjoyable when served in an appropriate glass. If you drink your wine through a straw, you get no bouquet and the whole drinking experience is diminished.

[Really Nice!]

If you drink your wine through a straw, you get no bouquet and the whole drinking experience is diminished.

←

You don't get a bouquet because you don't draw in air when you sip. Another affect of this is without that extra air you get inebriated much more quickly. I've seen this through a couple of friends; whenever she started drinking through a straw, her husband would get ticked off because he knew she'd be getting pissed after just two glasses.

[LindaJ]

We had a discussion on this a few months ago. It's a sparkling wine so the can is a portable bubble container. The can handles the pressure of the bubbles like a beer can does so this is a new application of an old idea.

I'm all for sparkling wine being more portable and safer than in glass, although I haven't tasted this stuff yet. The straw is definitely a bad idea, but their market demographic probably would think sipping "champers" out of a pink can would be super cute. I sure as heck would have 20 years ago.

It's a Niebaum Coppola product and named after Sofia Coppola. Here's their website: http://www.sofiamini.com/

[Eden]

I came across this last night at a wine tasting & almost fell over laughing. In fact we even bought a box as a joke gift for a friend. She's going to have a cow

Is it great champagne? No. Is it perfectly drinkable on the level of other sparklers in the price range? Absolutely. (at least when transfered to a glass...)

[jbonne]

added bonus: you can take one on an airplane and likely not be found out, while your average 750 and a Riedel flute tend not to win points with flight attendants. double added bonus: the deli in JFK's JetBlue terminal sells them.

[carswell]

SOFIA's straw is a conceit and the sincerest form of flattery. Pommery introduced the concept with its Pop Champagne mini bottles. As you'll deduce from visiting the website, it's largely an image thing (makes Champagne seem less stodgy, more soda poppy, more appealing to youth). Also, at least part of the target audience is ravers (check out the music and the wired babe with the fried eyes on the main page), who want to drink while dancing and who don't do flutes. Whence the need for the straw. Unless you decide, as the website also suggests, to dispense with it altogether and chug.

Goes anywhere, anytime. Looking for a good time.

Rules were made to be broken.

You don't need an occasion.

Sometimes selfish is good. Today is all there is. Enjoy it.

Lose the glasses. POP makes pleasure portable.

Sipped nonchalantly through a straw or sucked boldly from the bottle.

Go ahead. It's all yours.

Now you know.

edit: typo

Edited February 13, 2005 by carswell (log)

[Safran]

Now you know.

←

Indeed we do!

[Busboy]

The Washington Post puts Cali canned sparkling wine (one assumes that any French Champagne firm proposing such an outrage would be seized by the government and its graped crushed fo vinegar) on the front page of the Style secion.

Ladies, you're being blamed for this one.

"Sacre bleu ! But who would sip bubbly from an aluminum can? Those who would eat filet mignon from ze paper plate, no? View the Mona Lisa through ze sunglasses?

Ahhh, perhaps Americans. Perhaps American chicks. That was what vintners at Niebaum-Coppola Winery were betting in that moment of can-do innovation when, thinking outside the bottle, they came up with the idea of selling champagne in a can."

The website is here. Flipping through it confirmed for me that this whole idea is actually as unfortunate as it sounds.

[chezcherie]

i was given some of this stuff recently. it tastes exactly the way one would expect sparkling wine from an aluminum can to taste.

Edited December 11, 2005 by chezcherie (log)