Toast to the new year with four new festive tipple and accessories

The non-stop razzmatazz of the festive season can be overwhelming, especially for those divvying up their time between partaking in the indulgences of Yuletide feasts and parties and planning their own convivial bash.

As any seasoned host might tell you, the trick is to have a well-stocked larder and cellar, and the rest will sort itself out.

Before you rush out for last-minute festive shopping, read on for the latest and greatest to look out for in the world of effervescent tipples and fine vino.

1. Dom Perignon debuts Rose Vintage 2009 after a dozen years in the cellar

The New Year calls for champagne, which you shall get with the recent debut of Dom Perignon’s exquisite Rose Vintage 2009 in Singapore after close to a dozen years in the winery’s cellars.

The vintage is said to be the product of an exceptional harvest under near-idyllic conditions, where exceedingly rich pinot noir grapes were tempered and transformed into an effervescent, full-bodied tipple brimming with fruit, delicate minerality, and fleeting whiffs of rose, orange, and saffron.

Get it here.

2. IWA 5 brewery unveils Assemblage 4, its first sake to be blended on-site

The relatively young IWA 5 sake brewery in the Toyama region of Japan, founded by champagne house Dom Perignon’s former chief winemaker of 28 years, Richard Geoffroy, has just released its fourth blend.

Yes, we said blend, as the brand stands out among its competition as one of the few sake breweries to embrace mixing brews, which then mature in-bottle for a year before hitting store shelves.

This makes the recently unveiled Assemblage 4 a landmark release for the brewery, as it is the first iteration to be created not in Geoffroy’s home, as was done during the former three pandemic-ridden years, but on-site at the brewery in Shiraiwa, tucked away in the hilly town of Tateyama — making it a fittingly symbolic gift for the New Year. 

Get it here.

3. Dive deep with Penfolds’ oceanic, sustainably packaged wines

Winemaker Penfolds goes big on exploration once again, following up on 2022’s outer space-branded Venture Beyond collection with a new frontier — the ocean's depths right here on planet Earth, the vast majority of which remains woefully unexplored.

Its Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz 2021, Bin 28 Shiraz 2021, and Penfolds Max’s range will all be sold in limited-edition packaging bearing artworks revolving around marine exploration by Melbourne-based interdisciplinary digital artist Mikaela Stafford.

Sustainability, naturally, plays a huge part in the collection, too, with bottles in the Penfolds Max’s range coming in fully recyclable packaging. Its ocean-themed sister ranges, the Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz 2021 and Bin 28 Shiraz 2021, also feature packaging made from 75 per cent recycled materials.

Get it here.

4. Save your bottle for another day in style with limited-edition Coravin wine preservers

Sharing an extraordinary bottle of wine you’d been saving up for just the right holiday and company is fun. Feeling the pressure to finish said bottle, not so much. 

Coravin’s wine-preservation systems let you skip all that, thanks to a combination of a hollow needle that goes through the cork and an inert gas that stops the wine oxidising. They’re just the gift for wine lovers and are now available in a range of limited-edition colourways in honour of the festive season.

These range from glossy red and blue to a subtler grey-on-silver, as well as a deep, oceanic blue, all in service of matching the interior decor of any potential giftee. These will be available at selected retailers or online until the end of December.

Get it here.