Empire State of Mind by Zack O'Malley Greenburg

Author:Zack O'Malley Greenburg
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Penguin Group USA, Inc.
Published: 2011-02-02T16:00:00+00:00

Amid the aftermath of the divorce between Jay-Z and Cristal, Branson B.—the self-described street entrepreneur who’d introduced the star-crossed lovers nearly two decades earlier through the Notorious B.I.G.—found himself in France, hand-selecting grapes for his own Branson B. Cuvée champagne. During the three months he spent in the heart of wine country, he never heard a peep about Armand de Brignac or Ace of Spades. The notion that it had enjoyed “success as a premium, high-end brand in France” just wasn’t true.

“Didn’t exist,” Branson explains, fishing a bottle of Nicolas Feuillatte Brut from an ice bucket. He pops the bottle and fills two champagne flutes.

“Life,” he says.

“L’chaim,” I return, clinking his glass.

“How do you like this?” he asks after my first sip.

“It’s nice,” I reply. “I’m kind of an amateur, but it tastes less dry than others I’ve had.”

“Lightly fruity?”

“Almost like a white wine.”

“Like a chardonnay?”

“Yeah,” I reply, suddenly self-conscious. “Is that . . . is that accurate?”

“I recognized what you said.” He chuckles. “So it must be accurate.”

Branson glances back at the bottle of Armand de Brignac.

“You look at these pretty bottles, you’re thinking when you pour something out, it’s going to take you somewhere really special,” he says. “Now if you’re used to drinking champagne, and you pour something out of that bottle, and you don’t go no place, you’re going to be disappointed. You got on a ride, and you didn’t enjoy it, and you want your money back. You know what I mean?”

I nod, recalling the first time I tasted Armand de Brignac—light, sweet, and altogether decent, but not mind-blowing.

“The ride didn’t flip the way it should have, it went around the curve too slow, didn’t turn upside down,” he says, again seeming to read my mind. “When you’re spending that kind of money, you want to be excited.”

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