German sports car maker Porsche has designed a champagne cooling tower called Vertical Limit that costs almost as much as the high precision cars it produces.
Porsche Design Studio has handcrafted 15 of the sleek, brushed-steel cellars that retail for $70 000 stand nearly seven feet tall and come with 12 magnums of vintage bubbly, each in an individual temperature-controlled compartment.
“The idea is to show that champagne can be aged and to profile the uniqueness of each vintage,” said Cyril Brun, of champagne maker Veuve Clicquot which commissioned the tower.
The company worked with Porsche for two years to come up with the design for the so-called champagne cellar that was unveiled in New York this week.
If the high-end version proves a hit with well-heeled champagne collectors, they may consider manufacturing smaller, cheaper versions.