The bubbly served trackside and in the sumptuous marquees at this year's Melbourne Cup will still be French, but in a massive break in sponsorship and tradition, the champagne will no longer be poured from Moet & Chandon bottles.
After 15 years as the official champagne of the race that stops a nation, the Victorian Racing Club is set to announce - perhaps as early as this weekend - that rival French label G.H. Mumm will be exclusively cascaded into flutes and served to the thirsty crowds.
G.H. Mumm, whose champagne bottles carry a distinctive red sash, is currently Formula One's global sponsor and is always at hand for drivers on the podium as they celebrate a top-three finish.
Now it will also be poured out at Flemington and the 150th Melbourne Cup in November as Moet & Chandon is banished from the racetrack entirely to make way for its biggest competitor.
Owned by French beverages giant Pernod Ricard, G.H. Mumm is Australia's fastest-growing champagne brand and is estimated to be racing ahead at four times industry turnover rates.
It is also the most popular champagne inside France, having knocked Moet off its perch.
The VRC's deal with G.H. Mumm is the first major sponsorship announcement for the upcoming Melbourne Cup.
In the next few months, other corporates and businesses are expected to unveil their own advertising relationship with the club that oversees the Cup and its related celebrations.
Spokespeople for Moet, G.H. Mumm and the VRC were unavailable for comment.
It is believed Moet will focus its advertising and sponsorship dollars on the global cinema industry, with the champagne appearing in Sex in the City 2 and spruiked by Hollywood actor Scarlett Johansson.
Moet still remains the most popular champagne in Australia. More than one in three bottles of champagne sold in Australia are Moet.
Australia is the 10th-biggest export market for champagne, with just under 3 million bottles - or one bottle for every seven people - of the stuff guzzled, tippled and sprayed on sports podiums during 2009.
In France, the champagne consumption ratio is three bottles for every citizen.
egreenblat@theage.com.au
