New York-based luxury publisher Assouline is highly regarded for its ongoing Impossible Collection of outrageously large and comprehensive single-subject coffee table books. The Assouline Impossible Collection of designer books has touched on everything from cigars and cars to wine and watches in previous editions, now its attention turns to Champagne.
Detailing the 100 most exceptional bottles from the iconic region, The Impossible Collection of Champagne comes from world-renowned sommelier Enrico Bernardo and is now the definitive tome for anyone who regularly sips on the stars.
As we wrote in our round-up of the best coffee table books, owning something like this is a great way to not just decorate your house and constantly polish your knowledge on one of the world’s greatest pleasures, but also communicate your passion to any house guests in a subtle, stylish way. Having The Impossible Collection of Champagne sitting on your table is an easy flex.
RELATED: 15 Best Blanc de Blancs Champagne To Try In 2023
Bernardo has filled this lavish, wood-crated book with personal recollections of his experiences with the 100 Champagnes that are profiled within. Photography and drawings accompany each vintage as well as insightful educational pieces on the true origin of Champagne, shutting down numerous myths and going as far as back as when English merchants first added sugars and spices to wine shipments from France, thereby starting the second fermentation so essential to Champagne.
Of course, the refined technique pioneered by Dom Pérignon, then just a cellarmaster at the Benedictine abbey of Hautvilliers, is detailed quite extensively and given much focus in The Impossible Collection of Champagne, with Bernardo paying homage before penning several vintages of Dom Pérignon from 1928 to 1985.
Along with ultra-rare Champagnes like Bollinger 1830 Cuvée de Réserve Renaudin Brut and Möet & Chandon 1900 Grand Vintage Brut, other iconic labels like Krug, Veuve Clicquot and Charles Heidsieck each have their moments throughout the 236-page book, which was officially published in October 2022.
RELATED: An Exhaustive & Easy-To-Follow Guide To Champagne Bottle Sizes
There’s even some discussion on commercial Champagne versus smaller producers, with Bernardo going into detail on how the former values consistency and reproducing the same taste every year for the sake of having a house signature, while the latter puts more value on expressing the difference between terroirs and grape variety.
If it sounds like something you need, then Assouline is currently shipping The Impossible Collection of Champagne for an RRP of US$995 (~AU$1,482).
