The Hanseatisches Wein & Sekt Kontor & The Wine Company Celebrates “Champagne’s Revenge”

Hamburg, April 08, 2014 –The Hanseatic wine merchant will restore champagne’s honor and prestige at a spectacularly staged event on April 10, 2014. To take revenge for centuries of wasted champagne, the roles at a traditional ship’s christening will be reversed when a luxurious wooden yacht smashes against a 17-meter-tall bottle of Pommery champagne. Together with champagne loving celebrities such as Mariella Ahrens, Monica Ivancan, Günther Jauch, Lara-Joy Körner and Friedrich Liechtenstein, Hamburg’s historic fishing harbor will become the venue of “Champagne’s Revenge” and for an evening of festivities to kick off the celebrations surrounding the wine merchant’s anniversary year.

Alexander Margaritoff, the son of the company’s founder Peter Margaritoff, explains why it’s better to sip and enjoy champagne than to waste it at ships’ christenings: “Champagne is one of the world’sgreatest beverages. It epitomizes pleasure, the joy of life and savoir vivre. That’s exactly what our Hanseatisches Wein & Sekt Kontor stands for. We spare no effort to supply our customers with highquality products, for example, excellent champagnes, and thus to make our clientele happier.”

Honor to Whom Honor Is Due

Founded in a garage by Peter Margaritoff in 1964, this wine dealership has developed during the past 50 years into Germany’s leading mail-order wine merchant. And they accordingly have become anessential component of German wine culture. From 1964 to the present day, the Hanseatisches Wein & Sekt Kontor has brought no fewer than 12 million bottles of champagne to German tables.Employing a staff of circa 230 coworkers, the Hanseatisches Wein & Sekt Kontor annually delivers wines, champagnes and spirits worth 90 million euros. The secrets of the company’s success are to do things differently and to think innovatively. CEO Alexander Margaritoff explains, “Innovations have always propelled our company forward, whether their sources were our vintners or our employees who approach our customers. The Hanseatisches Wein & Sekt Kontor is always a step ahead ‘Champagne’s Revenge’ symbolizes our attitude and expresses the pleasure we derive from our daily work.”

Success Is the Best Revenge

After five successful decades, the time has come for this traditional company to take revenge. And the Hanseatisches Wein & Sekt Kontor has found the ideal ally for this settling of scores: Pommery, one of the grandes marques in the world of champagne. For many years, these two companies have been longterm partners in distributing champagne throughout Germany. “Champagne’s Revenge” will be extraordinarily spectacular. Just as no ship’s christening is left to chance nowadays, the Hanseatisches Wein & Sekt Kontor has meticulously planned every detail of the extravaganza on April 10th. The journalist and newsreader Judith Rakers will moderate the event, which will climax around 8:30 in the evening. A luxurious wooden yacht will be towed into the harbor and lifted by a crane. When the exciting countdown reaches “zero,” the wooden ship will smash against a gigantic bottle of champagne. The entire Hanseatisches Wein & Sekt Kontor will symbolically toast its anniversary when the yacht crashes into the enormous bottle. The rest of the evening, which will include a beautiful display of fireworks, will go down in the annals of champagne history – and in the history of the Port of Hamburg.

Statistics about the staging

Dimensions of the bottle: ca. 17 meters tall, 4.3 meters in diameter

The ship: a luxurious wooden yacht, 7 meters long, ca. 1,800 kg

Additional information is available for you at www.die-rache.com and www.50jahrehawesko.de, where you can witness the event via livestream. The teaser video can be viewed at www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNuX7yKdHpk.

CONTACT FOR JOURNALISTS:

häberlein & mauerer ag
Heimo Tscherne
Franz-Joseph-Str. 1
D-80801 Munich
T: 0049 (0)89 38 108 119
heimo.tscherne@haebmau.de

About the Hanseatisches Wein & Sekt Kontor

The Hanseatisches Wein & Sekt Kontor is Germany’s top-ranking mail-order house for high-quality wines, champagnes andspirits. Headquartered in Hamburg, the company has shipped its wares throughout Germany since 1964. Approximately 1½ million wine connoisseurs rely on the expertise and outstanding service of the Hanseatisches Wein & Sekt Kontor. Since 1996, the company has operated its online shop at www.hawesko.de, where the Hanseatisches Wein & Sekt Kontor, which has matured during the past five decades, presents around the clock its entire assortment of wines, champagnes and spirits, as well as gift ideas. The Wine Company is a part of The Hanseatisches Wein & Sekt Kontor & Hawesko