LVMH files lawsuit against Ace of Spades

Luxury goods giant LVMH has filed a false-advertising lawsuit in Manhattan Federal Court against Armand de Brignac Champagne, db.com reports. According to The New York Post, the makers of Dom Pérignon and Moët & Chandon filed a suit last Friday that seeks to put a stop to Armand de Brignac’s claim that it is “rated the number one Champagne in the world.”

Moët Hennessy USA believes the Champagne house “is intentionally misleading consumers” about the quality of its fizz, which includes Armand de Brignac Brut Gold NV, affectionately known as Ace of Spades. The suit states that the Brut Gold NV is the only of Armand de Brignac’s cuvées to be rated number one by Finnish Champagne expert Essi Avellan MW’s FINE Champagne Magazine, “and that rating occurred in 2010.”

“Since then, Armand de Brignac Brut Gold NV has fared much worse in that periodical’s testing, rated number 23 in 2011, and number 22 in 2012,” court papers charge. In addition to barring the company from using the “number one” rating, the suit seeks unspecified damages for unfair competition and all of Armand de Brignac’s profits from “its false and misleading advertisement.”

A favourite among hip-hop artists including Jay Z, Kanye West, Chris Brown and Drake, a Nebuchadnezzar of Armand de Brignac Brut Gold worth an estimated £80,000 was brought to Usain Bolt’s VIP table at Movida nightclub in London earlier this month after the Jamaican sprinter helped smash the world record for the 4x10o-metre relay at the London 2012 Olympics.